LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,   N.  J. 

Presented  by 

The  Widow  ot  & €o roe. Duo"oin ,     °Ms>  . 


BR  121  .H23 

1905 

Hall,  Charl 

es 

Cuthbert,  185 

-1908. 

Christian  b 

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CHRISTIAN  BELIEF  INTERPRETED  BY 
CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCE 


CHRISTIAN  BELIEF  INTERPRETED 
BY  CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCE 


LECTURES  DELIVERED  IN  INDIA,  CEYLON,  AND  JAPAN 
ON  THE  BARROWS  FOUNDATION 


CHARLES  CUTHBERT^EALL 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


With  an  Introductory  Note 

BY 
THE  VICE-CHANCELLOR   OP   THE   UNIVERSITY   OP   BOMBAY 


THEVBARROWS  LECTURES 
1902-1903 


CHICAGO 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 

LONDON 

T.  FISHER  UN  WIN,  PATERNOSTER  SQUARE 

1905 


Copyright  1905 
The  University  of  Chicago 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall 


TO  THOSE 

IN  INDIA,  CEYLON,  AND  THE  FAR  EAST 

TO  WHOM  THE  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  IS  PRECIOUS 

THIS  ENDEAVOUR  TO  SET  FORTH 

THE  RELIGION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

IS  DEDICATED 

IN  THE  SPIRIT  OF  BROTHERHOOD  AND  WITH  TRUE  RESPECT 

FOR  THE  VARIOUS  FAITHS  OF  MEN 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Barrows  Lectureship  Foundation  ix 

Preface xiii 

By  the  Author 

Introductory  Note xxi 

By  the  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Bombay 

Syllabus •-    xxvii 

LECTURE  I 
The  Nature  of  Religion 1 

LECTURE  II 

The  Christian  Idea  of  God  and  its  Relation  to  Expe- 
rience -        -  -        -        --        -        -        -        36 

LECTURE  III 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of 

God      ----- 77 

LECTURE  IV 

The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ  Inter- 
preted by  Christian  Experience         -        -        -        -      120 

LECTURE  V 
The  Ideas  of  Holiness  and   Immortality  Interpreted 

by  Christian  Experience 162 

LECTURE  VI 
Reasons  for  Regarding  Christianity  as  the  Absolute 

Religion 208 

Supplementary  Note 248 

By  the  Reverend  John  H.  DeForest,  D.D.,  of  Japan 


THE    BARROWS    LECTURESHIP    FOUNDATION 

The  Barrows  Lectureship  was  established  in  1894  by 
Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Haskell.  The  first  course  of  lectures 
was  delivered  during  the  winter  of  1896-1897  by  Dr. 
John  Henry  Barrows,  in  whose  honor  the  lectureship  was 
named.  Dr.  Barrows  gave  one  or  more  lectures  in  each 
of  the  following  cities :  Calcutta,  Lucknow,  Cawnpore, 
Delhi,  Lahore,  Amritsar,  Agra,  Jeypore,  Ajmere,  Indore, 
Ahmednagar,  Poona,  Bangalore,  Vellore,  Madras,  Madura, 
Palamcotta,  Tinnevelly,  and  Colombo.  This  course  of 
lectures  has  been  published  under  the  title,  Christianity, 
the  World  Religion.  The  second  course  of  Barrows 
Lectures  was  delivered  in  Calcutta  and  elsewhere  in 
India,  by  Dr.  A.  M.  Fairbairn,  Principal  of  Mansfield 
College,  Oxford,  during  the  winter  of  1898-1899.  This 
course  of  lectures  has  not  been  published. 

The  letter  of  Mrs.  Haskell  to  President  Harper,  in 
which  she  proposes  to  establish  this  lectureship  in  the 
University  of  Chicago,  is  as  follows  : 

Chicago,  October  12,  1894. 

President  William  R.  Harper: 

My  dear  Sir :  I  take  pleasure  in  offering  to  the  University 
of  Chicago  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  for  the  found- 
ing of  a  second  Lectureship  on  the  Relations  of  Christianity 
and  the  Other  Religions.  These  lectures,  six  or  more  in  num- 
ber, are  to  be  given  in  Calcutta  {India),  and,  if  deemed  best, 
in  Bombay,  Madras,  or  some  other  of  the  chief  cities  of 
Hindustan,  where  large  numbers  of  the  educated  Hindus  are 
familiar  with  the  English  language.     The  wish,  so  earnestly 


x  The  Barrows  Lectureship  Foundation 

expressed  by  Mr.  P.  C.  Mozoomdar,  that  a  lectureship,  like 
that  which  I  had  the  privilege  of  founding  last  summer,  might 
be  provided  for  India,  has  led  me  to  consider  the  desirability 
of  establishing  in  some  great  collegiate  center,  like  Calcutta, 
a  course  of  lectures  to  be  given,  either  annually  or,  as  may 
seem  better,  biennially,  by  leading  Christian  scholars  of 
Europe,  Asia,  and  America,  in  which,  in  a  friendly,  tem- 
perate, conciliatory  ivay,  and  in  the  fraternal  spirit  which 
pervaded  the  Parliament  of  Religions,  the  great  questions 
of  the  truths  of  Christianity,  its  harmonies  with  the  truths 
of  other  religions,  its  rightful  claims  and  the  best  methods  of 
setting  them  forth,  should  be  presented  to  the  scholarly  and 
thoughtful  people  of  India. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  identify  this  work,  which,  I  believe, 
tvill  be  a  work  of  enlightenment  and  fraternity,  with  the  Uni- 
versity Extension  Department  of  the  University  of  Chicago, 
and  it  is  my  desire  that  the  management  of  this  Lectureship 
should  lie  with  yourself,  as  President  of  all  the  Departments 
of  the  University;  with  Rev.  John  Henry  Barrows,  D.D.,  the 
Professorial  Lecturer  on  Comparative  Religion;  with  Pro- 
fessor George  S.  Goodspeed,  the  Associate  Professor  of  Com- 
parative Religion;  and  with  those  ivho  shall  be  your  and  their 
successors  in  these  positions.  It  is  my  request  that  this  lecture- 
ship shall  bear  the  name  of  John  Henry  Barrows,  who  has 
identified  himself  with  the  ivork  of  promoting  friendly  rela- 
tions between  Christian  America  and  the  people  of  India. 
The  committee  having  the  management  of  these  lectures  shall 
also  have  the  authority  to  determine  whether  any  of  the 
courses  shall  be  given  in  Asiatic  or  other  cities  outside  of 
India. 

In  reading  the  proceedings  of  the  Parliament  of  Religions, 
I  have  been  struck  with  the  many  points  of  harmony  between 
the  different  faiths,  and  by  the  possibility  of  so  presenting 
Christianity  to  others  as  to  win  their  favorable  interest  in  its 
truths.  If  the  committee  shall  decide  to  utilize  this  Lecture- 
ship still  further  in  calling  forth  the  views  of  scholarly  repre- 
sentatives of  non-Christian  faiths,  I  authorize  and  shall 
approve  such  a  decision  Only  good  will  grow  out  of  such  a 
comparison  of  views 


The  Barrows  Lectureship  Foundation  xi 

It  is  my  wish  that,  accepting  the  offer  I  now  make,  the  com- 
mittee of  the  University  tvill  correspond  with  the  leaders  of 
religious  thought  in  India,  and  secure  from  them  such  helpful 
suggestions  as  they  may  readily  give.  I  cherish  the  expecta- 
tion that  the  Barroivs  Lectures  will  prove,  in  the  years  that 
shall  come,  a  new  golden  bond  between  the  East  and  West. 
In  the  belief  that  this  foundation  will  be  blessed  by  our 
heavenly  Father  to  the  extension  of  the  benign  influence  of 
our  great  University,  to  the  promotion  of  the  highest  interests 
of  humanity,  and  to  the  enlargement  of  the  Kingdom  of  Truth 
and  Love  on  earth,  I  remain,  with  much  regard, 

Yours  sincerely, 

Caroline  E.  Haskell. 

In  conformity  with  this  letter  of  gift,  the  following 
principles  and  regulations  governing  the  Barrows  Lecture- 
ship have  been  established : 

1.  A  Committee,  consisting  of  the  President  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago  and  the  Professor  of  Comparative  Religion,  is 
intrusted  with  the  management  of  the  Lectureship. 

2.  Nominations  to  the  Lectureship  are  made  by  the  Com- 
mittee and  confirmed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Uni- 
versity. 

3.  The  Lecturer  holds  office  for  two  years,  during  which 
period  he  is  expected  to  deliver  the  series  of  lectures  in  a  place 
or  places  agreed  upon  between  himself  and  the  Committee. 

4.  During  his  term  of  office,  or  in  the  year  following  its 
expiration,  the  Lecturer  is  expected  to  publish  his  lectures,  at 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  in  the  series  known  as  "  The 
Barrows  Lectures,"  and  to  deposit  two  copies  of  the  same  with 
the  Librarian  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  one  of  which  is  to 
be  placed  in  the  General  Library  of  the  University,  the  other  in 
the  Departmental  Library  of  Comparative  Religion. 

5.  The  Committee  is  empowered  to  add  to  these  regulations 
any  others  which  shall  be  in  harmony  with  the  terms  or  spirit 
of  the  Letter  of  Gift. 


PREFACE 

It  is  with  hesitation  that  I  submit  to  Western  readers 
the  simple  record  of  this  attempt  to  preach  Christ  in  the 
East.  The  publication  of  these  Lectures  has  been  long 
delayed  by  reason  of  circumstances  beyond  my  control. 

The  task  of  a  Barrows  Lecturer  in  the  Orient  is  deli- 
cate and  difficult.  He  goes  as  a  representative  of  Western 
University  life  to  confer  with  his  equals,  the  educated  men 
of  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  upon  matters  of  seriousness  and 
weight.  Thorough  philosophical  training,  combined  with 
-extensive  knowledge  of  Eastern  history  and  institutions, 
is  a  desirable  qualification  for  this  work.  I  did  not  have 
this  qualification.  The  appointment  came  to  me  un- 
sought. It  was  accepted  under  a  sense  of  duty,  and  was 
fulfilled  under  a  consciousness  of  many  limitations. 

As  a  part  of  my  obligation  to  the  University  of  Chicago, 
the  Lectures  now  are  published;  without  apology,  but 
also  without  pretence  of  learning.  I  hope  that  those,  in 
America  and  Great  Britain,  who  shall  read  these  Lectures, 
may  believe  with  what  unaffected  diffidence  they  are  now 
made  public. 

They  appear,  in  this  authorised  edition,  precisely  in 
the  form  in  which  they  were  delivered  in  India.  No 
attempt  has  been  made  to  extend  or  to  alter  them,  nor 
to  record  the  alterations  made  in  their  delivery  in  Japan. 
Those  alterations  appear  in  the  Tokyo  editions,  which  are 
in  English  and  in  Japanese.  The  recapitulations,  at  cer- 
tain points,  of  foregoing  arguments  have  not  been  omitted. 
The  forms  of  local  delivery  have  been  retained;  my  desire 
being  to  set  before  Western  readers,  as  exactly  as  possible, 


xiv  Barrows  Lectures 

the  manner  and  style  of  the  work  done  in  India,  for  In- 
dians. The  Syllabus,  which  was  found  helpful  in  India, 
has  been  reproduced  from  the  original  sheets  printed  in 
the  Madras  edition. 

The  Lectures  were  given  in  full  in  the  five  University 
Cities  of  India:  Calcutta,  Allahabad,  Lahore,  Bombay, 
Madras;  and,  in  Japan,  at  Kobe,  Osaka,  Kyoto,  Tokyo, 
and  Sendai.  Parts  of  the  course  were  given  in  the  Indian 
cities,  Benares,  Delhi,  Poona,  Vellore,  and  Madura;  also 
in  Colombo  and  Kandy,  Ceylon ;  and  in  Okayama,  Japan. 
They  were  heard  principally  by  Indian  and  Japanese 
graduates  and  undergraduates.  In  India  and  Ceylon  the 
services  of  an  interpreter  were  not  needed,  by  reason  of  the 
prevalent  use  of  English  in  University  circles.  In  Japan  I 
enjoyed  the  privilege  of  having  for  my  constant  companion 
and  gifted  interpreter,  the  Reverend  Masumi  Hino,  M.A., 
B.D.,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  the  Doshisha,  Kyoto,  a 
graduate  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary.  Professor 
Hino,  assisted  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Harada,  of  Kobe,  has 
translated  the  Lectures  into  the  Japanese  language. 

I  desire  to  express  my  sense  of  the  courtesy  of  Oriental 
audiences,  which,  without  exception,  gave  patient  and 
sympathetic  hearing  to  Lectures  containing  opinions 
favourable  to  a  religion  of  which  few  of  the  auditors  were 
adherents.  It  was  never  other  than  a  pleasure  to  address 
these  responsive  assemblies,  which,  invariably,  made  me 
conscious  of  their  welcome.  Never  did  I  feel  the  slightest 
sense  of  race  alienation  or  intellectual  remoteness.  I  felt 
myself  to  be  among  friends,  who,  trained  under  other 
traditions,  and  looking  upon  life  from  other  points  of 
view,  were,  nevertheless,  truly  my  brothers,  my  fellow- 
seekers  after  God.  I  look  back  upon  many  occasions 
when,  in  the  presence  of  a  thousand  Orientals,  I  felt  the 


Preface  xv 

same  spiritual  reciprocity  that  I  have  known  under  similar 
conditions  in  the  presence  of  my  own  countrymen. 

Those  who  would  enter  into  the  spirit  of  these  Lectures 
must,  for  the  moment,  dismiss  their  own  well-grounded 
Christian  belief,  forget  their  own  Christian  experience, 
lay  aside  denominational  interests,  and  discharge  the 
mind  of  racial  prejudice.  They  must  let  themselves  be 
transported,  in  imagination,  into  the  pantheistic  atmos- 
phere of  the  East,  where  religion  is  the  chief  business  of 
life,  while  the  validity  of  personal  religious  experience  is 
discarded,  by  many,  as  illusion.  Assuming  this  mental 
attitude,  they  must  consent  to  hear  certain  of  the  funda- 
mental ideas  of  the  Christian  religion  discussed  in  other 
terms  than  those  formed  in  the  moulds  of  Western 
sectarian  orthodoxy.  They  must,  if  but  for  the  moment, 
admit  that  there  is  a  Christian  essence,  which,  like  a  dis- 
embodied spirit,  may  subsist  without  the  corporeal  vesture 
of  theological  definition  sanctioned  by  Western  usage. 
They  must,  in  theory  at  least,  grant  the  possibility  of 
setting  forth  this  Christian  essence  without  involving  the 
aid  of  Western  ecclesiasticism.  They  must  remember  that 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  its  Semitic  antecedents 
and  cognates,  were  primarily  Oriental;  and  that  modern 
Christianity  in  Europe  and  America  represents  enormous 
divergence  from  the  primitive  type,  and  enormous  adapta- 
tion to  historical  and  social  conditions  peculiar  to  the 
West.  Toward  these  adaptations  the  East  may,  not  with- 
out reason,  decline  to  look  favourably ;  preferring,  for  her- 
self, the  primitive  type,  with  its  accentuation  of  Oriental 
features. 

Approaching  these  Lectures  in  the  spirit  indicated, 
one  will  not  be  surprised  to  find  them  placing  the  accent 
of  thought  where  one  would  not  be  likely  to  place  it,  if 


xvi  Barrows  Lectures 

addressing  a  Christian  congregation  in  Europe  or  America. 
One  remembers  that  many  of  the  axioms  of  Western 
Christian  beliefs  cease  to  be  axioms  east  of  Aden.  The 
Personality  of  God,  the  reality  of  the  finite  self,  the 
validity  of  experience,  the  importance  of  the  historical 
basis,  are  matters  that  we  assume  in  London  or  New 
York.  To  assume  them  in  Benares  is  fatuous.  There, 
not  only  are  the  concrete  religious  interests  unlike  our 
own  (as,  for  example,  the  sanctity  of  animals,  the  rein- 
carnation of  souls,  the  adoration  of  Mother  Ganga,  the 
spiked  charpoys  of  ascetics),  but  also  the  ultimate  philo- 
sophical conceptions  of  the  Universe  and  of  the  Absolute 
are  unlike  our  own. 

He  who,  confident  in  his  Western  tradition,  ignores 
the  differentia  of  Eastern  thinking,  and  preaches  Chris- 
tian truth  to  the  subtle  students  of  Allahabad  precisely  in 
the  terms  to  be  employed  at  Oxford  or  at  Harvard,  while 
he  may  interest  the  few  who  have  become  Europeanised 
in  their  thinking,  runs  the  risk  of  remaining  unintelligible 
to  the  many  whose  intellectual  presuppositions  have  almost 
nothing  in  common  with  his  own.  And  if,  insisting  that 
the  Christian  essence  can  be  clothed  only  in  the  vocabulary 
of  his  sectarian  orthodoxy,  he  proceeds  to  attack  the  views 
of  other  Christians  or  to  disparage  the  philosophy  of  his 
Indian  auditors,  he  may  learn  by  bitter  experience  that 
the  pent-up  scorn  and  hatred  in  the  long-suffering  heart 
of  the  East  will,  on  sufficient  provocation,  discharge  itself 
against  the  philosophical  intolerance  of  a  Western,  even 
as  against  his  racial  haughtiness. 

Nothing  could  be  more  misleading  than  to  assume  that, 
because  India  has  been  forced  by  the  fortunes  of  war  to 
accept  European  government,  and  to  assimilate  European 
institutions,  it  is  therefore  more  hospitable  to  the  conven- 


Preface  xvii 

tional  thought-forms  of  Western  Christendom,  in  matters 
of  religion.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  hostility  of  educated  Indians  to  Christianity  springs 
not  from  hatred  of  Christ,  whom  many  non-Christian  In- 
dians love  and  honour,  but  rather  from  irritating  associa- 
tion of  the  Christian  religion  with  Western  authority, 
through  ecclesiastical,  theological,  and  ceremonial  chan- 
nels of  influence. 

If  Christianity  be  presented  to  the  sensitive  Indian 
mind  as  a  product  of  Western  life,  the  chances  are  many 
that  the  presentation  shall  be  met  with  sullen  aversion  or 
scornful  rejection  by  those  who  have  the  self-possession 
that  is  born  of  culture.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Christian  essence  can  be  regarded  as  separable  from  its 
Western  ecclesiastical  adaptations,  and  can  be  presented 
as  lending  itself  to  the  modes  of  Eastern  thought,  the 
bearer  of  that  message  shall  not  lack  a  welcome. 

It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  by  those  who  read  the 
following  Lectures  that  the  absence  of  accent  upon  the 
historical  data  of  the  Christian  religion  is  an  intentional 
omission.  It  corresponds  with  the  relative  indifference  to 
the  historical  basis  that  appears  in  contemporary  Indian 
religious  thinking.  Every  religious  question  is  of  interest 
to  an  Indian,  but  he  approaches  all  from  the  metaphysical 
rather  than  from  the  historical  point  of  view.  Funda- 
mental problems  of  historical  criticism  have  absorbed  the 
attention  of  the  West.  The  East  regards  those  problems 
with  indifference  or  with  impatience.  The  West  has  been 
much  engaged  in  accentuating  the  historic  Jesus  and  his 
teachings,  as  differentiated  from  Pauline  metaphysic.  One 
does  not  question  the  advantage  of  such  discussion  for 
Western  minds  built  with  special  gifts  of  historical  per- 
ception.    But  to  the  Oriental  religious  thinker,  the  sphere 


xviii  Barrows  Lectures 

of  historical  criticism  is  too  local  and  too  reduced  in 
measure  to  meet  universal  conditions.  The  keen  accuracy 
of  Occidental  scholarship  delights  in  the  Synoptic  Gos- 
pels, and  seeks  to  confine  the  essence  of  Christianity  within 
the  lines  of  the  narrative.  The  mind  of  the  meditative 
East  is  interested,  passively,  in  the  historicity  of  Jesus, 
but,  when  attracted  to  Christianity,  glows  with  religious 
passion  before  the  Christ  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  and  the 
Christ  of  the  Epistles.  The  Oriental  thinking  that  suf- 
fuses the  Fourth  Gospel  and  the  Epistles  is  suited  to 
Eastern  minds,  and  that  interpretation  of  Christianity 
shall  best  command  the  attention  of  the  East  that  best 
conserves  and  most  richly  exhibits  the  high  metaphysical 
and  mystical  values  of  the  Bible. 

At  the  present  stage  in  the  Christianisation  of  the 
East  one  may  perhaps  venture  the  statement  that  the  most 
urgent  and  vital  things  to  be  done  are  these :  to  give  moral 
content  to  the  Idea  of  God;  to  differentiate  the  Incarna- 
tion of  the  Son  of  God  from  the  incarnations  of  Hinduism ; 
to  ethicise  religion  in  the  thought  and  practice  of  the 
individual.  Each  one  of  these  ends  calls  for  the  most 
careful  preparation  of  mind  and  spirit  on  the  part  of 
those  who  undertake  the  solemn  task  of  discussing  before 
Indian  or  Japanese  audiences  of  culture  the  major  proposi- 
tions of  the  Christian  faith.  The  preparation  of  mind 
should  involve  the  largest  attainable  knowledge  of  the 
metaphysic  of  pantheism  and  of  the  connotations  of  human 
personality,  under  a  pantheistic  system  of  thinking.  With 
this  should  be  joined  the  clearest  possible  view  of  whatso- 
ever is- universal  and  permanent  in  the  field  of  Christian 
thought  as  distinguished  from  whatsoever  is  local,  secta- 
rian, and  transitional.  The  pathway  to  such  a  point  of 
view  must  advance  through  and  beyond  the  Synoptics  to 


Preface  xix 

the  uttermost  height  of  the  Apostolic  Christology.  For 
one  of  Western  birth,  who  attempts  in  the  sensitised  atmos- 
phere of  modern  India  to  give  moral  content  to  the  Idea 
of  God,  to  differentiate  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God 
from  the  incarnations  of  Hinduism  and  to  ethicise  religion 
in  the  thought  and  practice  of  the  individual,  there  must 
be  a  preparation  of  spirit  as  well  as  a  preparation  of  mind. 
Intellectual  research  is  not  enough.  There  must  be  born 
within  one  a  chastened  and  humble  temper,  a  heart  of 
love.  The  pride  of  Anglo-Saxon  birth  must  be  subdued; 
the  fierce  intolerance  toward  the  halting,  irresolute,  dream- 
ing East  must  be  rebuked  and  overthrown  by  Christlike 
love.  Reverence  must  supplant  contempt,  and  the  honour 
of  brotherhood  the  pious  disdain  that  stoops  to  save  what 
it  cannot  respect.  Until  this  temper  prevails,  religious 
teachers  cannot  win  toward  evangelical  Christianity  the 
respectful  consideration  of  many  educated  Indians. 

Within  the  last  few  years,  owing  to  the  rapid  march  of 
events  and  the  rapid  change  of  international  conditions, 
interest  in  Oriental  affairs  and  in  Oriental  ideas  has  been 
quickened  in  all  circles  of  culture  throughout  the  Western 
world.  The  increased  interest  proceeds  not  merely  from 
that  curiosity  which  promotes  travel  and  discovery,  and 
not  merely  from  that  growing  attention  to  world-affairs 
which  is  a  feature  of  modern  intellectuality.  In  addition 
to  these  sources  of  interest,  there  is  an  advancing  appre- 
ciation of  the  East  in  many  quarters.  An  opinion  steadily 
gains  ground  that  the  East  is  the  home  of  ideas  and  forces 
which  are  to  have  a  significant  bearing  on  the  future 
civilisation  of  the  world ;  that  the  East  has  some  function 
to  discharge  toward  the  West,  or  some  message  to  give 
to  the  West,  as  yet  but  dimly  perceived  by  itself  and  by 
the  rest  of  world.     It  is  felt,  with  something  like  a  sense 


xx  Barrows  Lectures 

of  destiny,  that  the  age  is  dawning  in  which  that  function, 
whatever  it  be,  is  to  be  administered ;  that  message,  what- 
it  be,  delivered. 

By  some,  who  view  the  East  with  suspicion  and  race 
antipathy,  that  vague  sense  of  a  future  influence  to  be 
exerted  by  East  on  West  is  called  the  "Yellow  Peril." 
By  those  who  have  come  sufficiently  near  to  the  Eastern 
mind  to  discern  its  point  of  view,  and  to  be  taken,  meas- 
urably, into  its  confidence,  this  so-called  Peril  exists  only 
in  theory ;  and  the  future  message  of  the  mysterious  East 
to  the  strenuous  and  practical  West  appears  rather  to  be 
a  metaphysical  and  religious  message,  to  be  delivered,  not 
with  the  rude  force  of  armed  intrusion,  but  with  the  mag- 
netic subtlety  of  silent  influence,  addressing  the  innermost 
soul  of  the  West.  In  any  case,  the  presence  of  this  con- 
viction that  the  East  is  a  growing  force  in  world-politics, 
and  that  the  East  is  to  be  heard  from  in  ways  undreamed 
of  by  our  forefathers,  suggests  that  the  present  and  future 
attitude  of  the  Orient  toward  the  Christian  religion  and 
the  Christian  ethics  is  a  matter  of  high  importance.  By 
this  attitude  must  be  determined  the  nature  of  the  influ- 
ence that,  apparently,  is  about  to  emerge  from  the  East 
and  to  liberate  itself  upon  the  world. 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  to  thank  the  University  of 
Chicago  for  many  courtesies  and  much  patience  toward 
myself  in  connection  with  this  attempt  to  fulfill  the  re- 
quirements of  the  Barrows  Lectureship.  I  wish  also  to 
thank  the  authorities  of  the  University  Press  for  permis- 
sion to  employ  orthographical  forms  according  to  English 
usage. 

Charles  Cuthbeet  Hall. 

Union  Theological  Seminary, 
June,  A.  D.  1905. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

The  rapid  growth  in  America  of  an  interest  in  Oriental 
studies  is  a  feature  of  the  intellectual  history  of  our  time. 
This  development  has  not  been  the  result  of  any  direct 
political  contact  with  the  East ;  it  has  owed  more  to  its 
association  with  the  modern  study  of  Comparative  Reli- 
gion to  which  America  has,  from  the  first,  accorded  an 
enthusiastic  welcome.  In  the  University  of  Chicago  this 
science  has  secured  prominent  recognition,  and  the  foun- 
dation by  Mrs.  Haskell  of  the  Barrows  Lectureship  with 
special  reference  to  India  has  emphasised  the  spirit  and 
aim  with  which  these  studies  are  being  cultivated. 

Of  this  aim,  both  on  its  intellectual  and  spiritual  side, 
no  better  illustration  can  be  found  than  in  this  volume, 
which  contains  the  Lectures  delivered  in  the  cold  season 
1902-1903  in  the  leading  cities  of  India  by  Dr.  Charles 
Cuthbert  Hall,  President  of  the  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary of  New  York,  the  third  in  the  succession  of  Barrows 
Lecturers  on  this  unique  foundation. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  how  the  mental  atti- 
tude and  the  religious  outlook  presented  in  these  lectures 
have  found  so  congenial  a  soil  in  the  minds  of  American 
religious  thinkers.  The  process  going  on  around  them, 
by  which  a  great  national  life  is  being  evolved  through 
the  confluence  of  so  many  streams  of  independent  national 
history,  is  full  of  suggestions  of  that  larger  process  which 
has  been  going  on  throughout  the  ages  in  the  wider  field 
of  the  religious  history  of  mankind.  This  wide  outlook 
is  naturally  forced  on  the  thinker  placed  amid  such  sur- 
roundings ;  and  it  is  perhaps  easier  for  him  than  for  those 


xxii  Barrows  Lectures 

who  are  inclosed  within  more  fixed  and  more  unchange- 
able national  boundaries  to  conceive  the  larger  movement. 
To  understand  it  aright  it  is  necessary  to  view  the  various 
religious  developments  in  their  purely  ideal  aspects ;  and 
the  religious  and  intellectual  detachment  which  such  a 
view  demands  comes  more  easily  to  those  who  contem- 
plate these  movements  from  a  distance  than  to  those 
whose  contact  with  their  actual  present  result  tends  to 
obscure  their  perception  of  the  ideal  elements  which  lie 
behind  them.  However  this  may  be,  the  reader  of  these 
Lectures  must  be  struck  by  their  philosophic  grasp  and 
breadth  of  conception,  quite  as  much  as  by  the  eloquent 
expression  which  they  furnish  of  the  author's  sympathy 
with  the  religious  strivings  of  all  who  in  every  age  have 
been  seekers  after  God. 

Many,  I  think,  will  admit  that  the  attitude  toward  the 
ethnic  religions  maintained  throughout  these  Lectures, 
which  regards  them  as  lying  not  outside  but  within  the 
economy  of  the  Divine  purpose,  is  truer  to  our  highest 
conception  of  God  and  to  the  teaching  of  the  Christian 
revelation  than  the  view  which  it  has  so  largely  displaced. 
Some  of  the  early  Christian  apologists  occupied  substan- 
tially the  same  ground  when  they  attributed  to  the  direct 
agency  of  the  Spirit  of  God  the  high  aspirations  and  reli- 
gious endeavours  of  select  spirits  in  the  ancient  world,  and 
our  Lord  Himself  has  said  of  the  doers  of  the  truth  that 
they  "come  to  the  light  that  their  deeds  may  be  made 
manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God."  Dr.  Hall  not 
only  accepts  this  position  in  regard  to  the  workings  of 
the  religious  consciousness  of  India;  he  has  interwoven 
this  thought  into  the  entire  fabric  of  his  argument,  and 
has  employed  it  as  his  main  chance  for  approach  to  the 
minds  of  his  Indian  hearers  and  readers. 


Introductory  Note  xxiii 

By  the  frankness  and  sincerity  with  which  this  point 
of  view  was  adhered  to  throughout,  these  addresses  were 
eminently  fitted  to  win  a  sympathetic  hearing  from  the 
Indian  audiences  to  which  they  were  delivered ;  and  those 
who  are  cognizant  of  the  impression  produced  in  the 
various  centres  where  educated  Indians  gathered  to  hear 
them  can  bear  testimony  to  the  appreciative  response 
which  they  awakened.  It  would,  indeed,  be  difficult  to 
find  a  better  example  of  a  Christian  approach  to  the  non- 
Christian  mind  than  that  which  meets  us  in  this  series  of 
Lectures.  Appearing  now  in  printed  form,  they  lack  that 
subtile  quality  which  as  spoken  they  derived  from  the 
magnetic  personality  of  the  lecturer;  the  eloquence  of 
the  living  voice,  too,  is  wanting;  but  the  spirit  remains, 
and  will  continue  to  win  for  them  an  increasing  apprecia- 
tion both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West.  India  is  a  land 
which  craves  for  sympathy;  it  is  quick  to  detect  the 
accents  of  true  Christian  love,  and  such  love  never  fails 
of  its  response. 

It  did  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  these  Lectures  to 
discuss  the  present  religious  conditions  in  India.  If  such 
discussion  had  been  in  place,  Dr.  Hall  would,  doubtless, 
have  made  it  clear  that  it  is  possible  to  do  justice  to  the 
highest  and  the  best  in  Indian  thought  without  shutting 
one's  eyes  to  the  sadness  of  its  failures.  Of  this  spiritual 
failure  and  degeneracy  the  best  Indian  minds  are  pro- 
foundly conscious;  thoughtful  spiritual  men  recognise 
and  bewail  it.  But  the  lecturer  had  to  deal  with  the 
ideal  side  only,  his  special  aim  being  to  exhibit  Christ  as 
the  Fulfiller  and  His  religion  as  the  realisation  of  that 
ideal  toward  which  humanity  has  been  feeling  its  uncer- 
tain way  through  all  the  ages.  He  estimates  at  their 
highest  these  aspirations  and  achievements  of  the  human 


xxiv  Barrows  Lectures 

spirit;  but  he  leaves  the  reader  in  no  doubt  as  to  their 
incompleteness  and  one-sidedness.  The  secret  of  their 
inadequacy  to  explain  God  and  man,  and  to  lead  man  up 
to  his  truer  life  in  God,  is  expounded  with  philosophic 
thoroughness,  and  yet  with  all  tenderness;  while  the  ade- 
quacy and  completeness  of  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ 
are  set  forth  and  illustrated  in  the  light  that  comes  from 
man's  religious  experience. 

To  the  Christian  reader  the  apologetic  value  of  such  a 
method  must  be  obvious,  while  the  spirit  in  which  the 
method  is  followed  out  ought  to  disarm  prejudice  and  win 
for  the  argument  here  presented  the  candid  consideration 
of  those  to  whom  it  is  specially  addressed.  The  result  is 
all  the  more  likely  to  be  secured  in  this  case,  in  which  the 
argument  is  transferred  from  the  region  of  mere  intel- 
lectual discussion  to  that  of  spiritual  experience.  We 
know  how  possible  it  is,  when  religions  are  compared  and 
discussed  from  a  purely  intellectual  standpoint,  to  arouse 
antagonisms  which  entirely  defeat  the  highest  ends  of 
religious  thought ;  but  religious  experience  rests  on  the 
ultimate,  the  deepest  foundations  of  human  life;  it  touches 
that  which  is  most  universal  in  man;  and  religious  dis- 
cussion within  this  hallowed  region  ought  not  to  alienate, 
but  to  invite.  It  is  along  such  lines  that  the  thought  of 
these  Lectures  moves,  and  to  this  they  owe  much  of  their 
attractiveness  as  well  as  their  special  religious  value.  An 
argument  thus  overshadowed  by  the  eternities  has  no 
place  in  it  for  acrimonious  controversy;  it  abides  in  the 
inner  sanctuary  from  which  the  clamour  of  rivalry,  con- 
flict, and  triumph  is  rigidly  excluded.  Here  the  lecturer 
has  shown  his  peculiar  strength ;  and  we  may  cherish  the 
expectation  that  this  distinctive  note  of  his  teaching  will 
preserve  for  India  the  memory  of  his  visit. 


Introductory  Note  xxv 

Those  whom  long  residence  in  India  has  made  familiar 
with  the  peculiar  religious  attitude  of  the  Indian  mind 
cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  exactness  with  which  Dr. 
Hall  has  comprehended  the  situation.  It  is  evident  from 
these  Lectures  that,  although  Dr.  Hall's  first  actual  con- 
tact with  the  people  of  India  dates  from  the  time  of  this 
visit,  his  mental  contact  with  them  is  of  much  older  stand- 
ing, and  that  the  positions  he  has  advanced  are  the  fruit, 
not  only  of  a  careful  study  of  the  ancient  things  of  India, 
but  of  a  very  extensive  knowledge  of  the  present  move- 
ments of  Indian  religious  thought. 

At  different  points  the  Lectures  suggest  views  of  the 
Christian  religion  that  are  of  the  highest  importance  to 
its  followers.  To  one  of  these  I  would  direct  attention 
in  closing  this  brief  introduction.  The  thought  that  the 
Christian  religion  cannot  find  its  full  expression  until  all 
nations  have  entered  into  its  life  is  not  new;  but  it  has 
found  in  these  Lectures  clear  and  characteristic  utterance. 

The  general  theme,  as  well  as  the  surroundings  amid 
which  it  was  discussed,  was  well  fitted  to  suggest  such 
thoughts  regarding  the  future  possibilities  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  The  fact  that  the  higher  thought  of  India 
has  ever  been  centred  in  religion,  that  through  the  centu- 
ries it  has  wrestled  with  religion's  ultimate  problems,  that 
more  keenly  than  most  other  lands  it  has  felt  the  burden 
of  this  unintelligible  world,  may  well  awaken  the  expecta- 
tion that  the  religion  of  Christ  may  yet  receive  a  more 
emphatic  interpretation  on  some  of  its  many  sides  when 
the  heart  of  India  has  laid  hold  of  its  life  and  doctrine. 
The  church's  slowness  to  obey  her  Master's  great  commis- 
sion has  long  delayed  the  full  realisation  of  her  own  des- 
tiny. A  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  which  implies 
that  each  nation  or  section  of  the  world  has  its  own  con- 


xxvi  Barrows  Lectures 

tribution  to  bring  to  the  religious  interpretation  of  the 
common  catholic  faith  is  in  accordance  with  the  surest 
teachings  of  the  history  of  the  past,  and  needs  to  be 
emphasised  both  in  the  interests  of  the  church  and  of  the 
world  which  it  is  commissioned  to  evangelise.  To  the 
thoughtful  Christian  it  supplies  the  stimulus  of  an  in- 
spiring vision,  and  to  the  non-Christian  world  it  presents 
the  Christian  religion  as  standing  in  a  new  and  nearer 
relation  to  itself.  "As  the  lightning  cometh  out  of  the 
east  and  shineth  even  unto  the  west,  so  shall  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man  be."  Such  has  ever  been  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man  in  the  actual  history  of  the  world.  As 
the  lightning  coming  out  of  the  heavens  seems  to  oblit- 
erate by  its  flash  of  sudden  glory  all  our  earthly  directions 
and  distances,  and  unites  our  eastern  and  our  western 
horizons  by  its  mystic  chain  of  living  light,  so  the  divinely 
manifested  Christ  shines  forth  upon  the  world  as  the  Lord 
from  heaven,  obliterating  all  mental  distances  and  na- 
tional diversities,  uniting  the  East  and  the  West,  and 
binding  together  in  the  bonds  of  one  Divine  universal  love 
the  sundered  nations  of  men. 

D.  Mackichan, 
Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Bombay. 
Bombay,  June  20, 1903. 


SYLLABUS 


LECTUKE  I 

THE    NATURE    OF    RELIGION 

1.  Joy  of  the  lecturer  on  reaching  India,  for  whose  people  he 
has  had  a  lifelong  affection.  He  comes  as  the  ambassador 
of  the  University  of  Chicago  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
Intellectual  and  religious  earnestness  of  Indians  realised  in 
university  circles  in  America. 

2.  Statement  of  general  subject:  Christian  belief  interpreted 
by  Christian  experience.  Proposal  to  enter  upon  a  study  of 
the  Christian  religion  in  the  modern  spirit  and  from  the 
modern  point  of  view.  Modern  study  of  religion  has 
acquired  new  form  and  content.  The  new  science  of  religion 
has  superseded  disregard  of  the  beliefs  of  others.  Interest 
of  western  scholars  in  eastern  religions. 

3.  This  interest  arises  from  three  causes:  modern  views  of  the 
unity  of  mankind,  of  the  co-operative  evolution  of  the  race, 
and  of  the  origin  of  religion.     Discussion  of  these  causes: 

a)  Unity  of  the  race  not  superficial  and  apparent,  but  pro- 
found and  esoteric.  To  admit  this  does  not  subvert  natu- 
ral distinctions  and  commit  one  to  radical  democracy. 
It  enlarges  the  religious  problem. 

b)  Condition  of  the  human  race  not  fixed,  but  advancing  as 
toward  a  goal.  Every  form  of  faith,  therefore,  acquires 
an  evolutionary  significance  as  a  contribution  toward  the 
progress  of  mankind. 

c)  Many  of  the  noblest  minds  of  our  time,  gaining  new 
views  of  the  origin  of  religion,  can  be  satisfied  no  longer 
with  past  theories  of  priestly  intervention  as  the  cause 
of  religion,  or  of  one  primitive  revelation.  The  modern 
search  for  the  origin  of  religion  has  considered  animism, 
or  the  worship  of  spirits,  reverence  for  the  departed,  as 
leading  to  the  worship  of  ancestors,  and  the  sense  of  per- 


xxviii  Barrows  Lectures 

sonal  insignificance  in  the  presence  of  incalculable  powers 
of  nature.  Belief  of  the  lecturer  that  the  origin  of  reli- 
gion may  be  best  learned  from  the  study  of  its  highest 
forms,  and  that  these  point  to  a  yearning  for  the  Infinite 
which  is  common  among  men. 

4.  This  view  of  the  origin  of  religion  leads  to  the  question: 
Whence  this  yearning  for  God?  The  answer  is  given  that  it 
proceeds  from  the  Spirit  of  God  within  ourselves.  This 
opinion  adds  reverence  and  tenderness  to  the  study  of  every 
form  of  faith. 

5.  It  is  recognised  that  weighty  arguments  appear  to  justify 
indifference  on  the  part  of  educated  Hindus  toward  a 
thoughtful  examination  of  the  Christian  religion.  Statement 
of  the  argument  from  superior  antiquity.  Statement  of  the 
argument  from  lack  of  correspondence  between  East  and 
West.  Statement  of  the  argument  from  supposed  philo- 
sophical incompatibility.  The  force  of  these  arguments 
being  recognised,  the  broad  discussion  of  the  subject  yet 
may  be  possible,  inasmuch  as  the  lecturer  comes,  not  as  an 
European,  but  as  an  American;  not  as  a  churchman,  but  as  a 
university  man;  not  as  a  controversialist,  but  in  the  spirit  of 
gentleness  and  fellowship.  Ambition  of  the  lecturer  to  lift 
the  discussion  into  the  calm  atmosphere  of  fraternal  com- 
parison of  views. 

6.  To  this  end  three  undertakings  are  desirable  on  the  part  of 
eastern  students  who  consent  to  examine  the  Christian  reli- 
gion on  its  merits — an  intellectual  elimination,  an  historical 
retrospect,  a  philosophical  adjustment.  Discussion  of  these 
undertakings. 

a)  The  intellectual  elimination  is  the  dismissal,  as  irrelevant, 
of  certain  considerations  that  tend  to  enter  into  the 
Oriental  study  of  the  Christian  religion  and  to  vitiate  the 
conclusions  of  the  student.  These  considerations  are 
political — the  entanglement  of  Christianity  with  civil  and 
military  powers  of  government;  ecclesiastical — the  entan- 
glement of  Christianity  with  the  sectarian  disputes  of 
Christians;  ethical  —  the  entanglement  of  Christianity 
with  the  moral  unworthiness  of  many  of  its  nominal  rep- 
resentatives.    He  who  would  explore  the  content  of  the 


Syllabus  xxix 

Christian  religion  must  withdraw  his  mind  from  consid- 
ering these  local  representations  of  its  pure  and  profound 
essence.  Christianity  not  a  product  of  the  West.  Christ 
towers  above  European  civilisation  and  is  independent 
of  it. 

b)  The  historical  retrospect  deals  with  the  evolution  of  the 
Christian  religion  as  it  relates  itself  to  the  genealogy  of 
races.  Two  race-names  mysteriously  involved — Aryan 
and  Semite.  The  Aryan  the  common  ancestor  of  Indian 
and  European.  This  suggestion  of  kinship  welcomed  by 
the  lecturer.  Discussion  of  various  theories  of  the  cradle 
of  our  common  ancestry.  Upon  any  theory  of  race- 
origins  the  Christian  religion  derived  neither  from  the 
Aryan  of  the  East  nor  from  the  Aryan  of  the  West. 
Emergence  of  Judaism  from  the  earlier  Semitic  civilisa- 
tion. Uniqueness  of  Judaism  — "  a  destroyed  nation,  but 
an  indestructible  people."  Extraordinary  supremacy  of 
Judaism  in  religious  faculty  and  in  the  power  exercised 
through  religion  upon  mankind.  A  consideration  of  this 
fact  dispels  the  irritating  suggestion  that  the  Christian 
religion  is  a  product  of  the  West.  Asia,  not  Europe,  the 
cradle  of  Christianity. 

c)  The  philosophical  adjustment  recommended  is  not  the 
surrender  of  intellectual  inheritance,  but  the  broad- 
minded  effort  to  understand  the  intellectual  positions  of 
others.  "Put  yourself  in  his  place."  Such  philosophical 
adjustment  not  hasty  self-commitment  to  new  opinions, 
but  a  judicial,  deliberative,  open-minded  attitude,  willing 
to  inspect  the  foundations  of  another's  thought.  Such 
an  attitude  worthy  of  those  who  believe  the  unity  of  the 
race  of  mankind.  Beneath  all  differentiations  the  fact 
remains  that  we  are  men.  As  such  we  can  afford  to 
open  our  hearts  to  one  another  and  to  seek  to  understand 
one  another  This  spirit  strongly  recommended  as  suit- 
able in  the  present  series  of  lectures. 


xxx  Barrows  Lectures 


LECTURE  II 

THE    CHRISTIAN    IDEA    OF    GOD    AND    ITS    RELATION    TO 
EXPERIENCE 

1.  Brief  restatement  of  the  mental  attitude  desirable  for  the 
study  of  the  Christian  religion  by  educated  Orientals — intel- 
lectual elimination,  historical  retrospect,  philosophical  adjust- 
ment. 

2.  Idea  of  God  considered  as  the  goal  of  knowledge.  Extreme 
empiricism  limits  knowledge  to  the  world  of  phenomena  and 
supplies  no  basis  for  a  philosophical  conception  of  God. 
Fundamental  postulate  of  the  Christian  religion  the  exist- 
ence of  a  God  who  can  be  known.  Its  chief  end  the  knowl- 
edge of  God. 

3.  Apparent  correspondence  of  this  statement  with  the  Hindu 
religious  aspiration,  "He  who  knows  Brahma  attains  the 
highest."  This  common  belief  in  the  knowableness  of  the 
Infinite  makes  possible  a  calm  examination  of  Christian  con- 
ceptions, even  though  the  conclusions  reached  are  far  removed 
from  those  of  Hinduism. 

4.  Essential  nature  of  Christian  theism  cannot  be  understood 
until  the  two  ideas,  "God"  and  "human  personality,"  are 
defined  in  the  terms  of  Christian  belief.  Consideration  of 
methods  of  interpreting  the  idea  of  God. 

a)  The  deistic  or  transcendent  method  intensifies  the  dis- 
tinction between  God  and  the  world :  God  being  an  objec- 
tive person  transcending  and  living  apart  from  His  world, 
and  interested  as  a  king-emperor  is  interested  in  his  sub- 
jects. The  immemorial  tradition  of  royalty  encourages 
this  conception  of  God.  Its  effects  variable,  including 
fatalism  and  self-torturing  renunciation  of  a  world  con- 
ceived as  without  God.  Christian  theism  unable  to  enter- 
tain this  view  of  God  because  of  its  dualistic  conclusion, 
which  involves  the  practical  contradiction  of  asserting 
Infinity  while  maintaining  a  finite  reality  which  it 
describes  as  not-God,  an  existence  altogether  separate 
from  God.  The  phraseology  of  Scripture,  intent  on 
developing  the  monotheistic  conception,  constantly  refers 


Syllabus  xxxi 

to  God  in  the  terms  of  transcendence,  thereby  retaining 
an  element  of  truth  that  must  be  preserved  for  the  deep- 
ening of  reverence.  Yet  the  interpretation  of  that  truth 
in  terms  that  would  set  off  the  world  from  God  as  a 
region  apart  from  His  infinity  is  as  repugnant  to  the 
Christian  as  to  the  pantheist. 
b)  The  method  of  negation  leads  to  the  concept  of  an  unde- 
finable  Absolute  without  attributes  or  qualities;  the 
unqualified  resultant  remaining  after  all  that  it  is  not  has 
been  eliminated.  Attractiveness  of  this  philosophy  of  the 
Infinite  for  many  pure  and  profound  natures  of  East  and 
West.  A  way  of  escape  from  the  confusion  and  weariness 
of  existence.  The  principle  of  illusion  considered.  Cor- 
respondence of  pantheism  with  a  deep  element  in  the  life 
of  humanity;  viz.,  to  find  relief  from  the  weariness  of  life 
by  undermining  the  reality  of  the  finite.  The  pantheism 
of  Spinoza.  Pantheism  a  protest  against  petty  concep- 
tions of  the  Infinite.  The  Supreme  Self  the  only  reality. 
The  subdivisions  of  the  phenomenal  world  regarded  by 
the  purest  pantheism  as  limitations  imposed  upon  the 
absoluteness  of  the  Supreme  Self.  Relief  from  this  con- 
clusion found  in  the  negation  of  finitude  as  illusory. 
Christian  recognition  of  this  profound  principle. 
The  Christian  religion  differentiated  from  all  pantheistic 
systems  by  its  method  of  reaching  a  conception  of  the  Infi- 
nite One  and  by  its  estimate  of  human  personality. 

a)  Philosophical  distinction  between  the  method  of  panthe- 
ism and  the  method  of  Christianity  in  arriving  at  the 
idea  of  God.  Pantheism  aspires  toward  the  complete 
elimination  of  content,  its  ideal  being  simplicity  of  being. 
Christianity  also  advances  by  the  path  of  negation  toward 
the  Supreme  Self,  but,  having  eliminated  finitude  and 
reached  the  concept  of  the  Simple  Absolute,  it  proceeds 
to  fill  that  Simple  Absolute  with  the  attributes  of  Infinite 
Personality,  an  inexhaustible  wealth  of  qualities  and 
modes  of  being — the  fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all. 

b)  Philosophical  distinction  between  the  method  of  panthe- 
ism and  the  method  of  Christianity  in  the  estimate  of 
human  personality.     Monistic  idealism  of  certain  Oriental 


xxxii  Barrows  Lectures 

schools  of  thought.  Unreality  of  personal  distinctions 
and  illusory  nature  of  personal  experience. 
Christian  point  of  view:  Individuality  of  God  carries  with 
it  as  a  logical  necessity  the  individuality  of  man.  Self- 
completing  of  Divine  Personality  involves  its  expression  in 
the  terms  of  corresponding  finite  intelligences.  Christian 
idea  of  the  Trinity  as  the  self -completing  of  Divine  Person- 
ality through  subjective  differentiation.  Finitude  also  neces- 
sary to  complete  Divine  self-realisation.  This  necessitates 
the  reality  of  human  personality.  Man  a  differentiated 
emanation  from  God.  The  psychological  reality  of  the  human 
individual  the  source  of  moral  independence  and  the  ground 
of  moral  responsibility. 

6.  Purpose  of  foregoing  affirmation  to  establish  a  basis  on  which 
to  estimate  the  religious  value  of  the  distinctive  beliefs  of 
Christianity.  "Value,"  objective  and  absolute,  or  subjective 
and  relative.  The  term  here  is  used  in  the  latter  sense:  the 
religious  value  of  Christian  truth  in  the  experience  of  the 
individual. 

"Experience"  defined.  Objection  considered  that  experi- 
ence is  illusory.  Reality  of  a  self  in  man  cannot  be  denied. 
Experience  the  totality  of  what  the  individual  self  in  man 
thinks,  does,  and  suffers.  Religious  experi  ence  the  totality 
of  effects  realised  in  the  self -consciousness  of  the  believer  in 
a  religion.  Distinctive  nature  of  Christian  experience.  Pur- 
pose of  lecture  to  examine  into  the  power  of  Christian  ideas 
to  add  to  the  joy,  power,  and  efficiency  of  the  present  life. 

7.  The  Christian  religion  rests  its  appeal  to  the  individual  life 
upon  its  belief  in  God  and  its  belief  in  man.  Christian  idea 
of  God  assimilates  elements  of  various  philosophical  systems 
—  transcendence,  immanence,  monism.  Relation  of  this  com- 
plex idea  to  personal  experience  founded  upon  the  Christian 
conception  of  man  as  a  self-conscious,  free,  responsible  being. 

Ethical  monism  differs  from  Christian  experience  in  the 
nature  of  its  incentive,  in  the  nature  of  its  obligation,  in  the 
nature  of  its  satisfaction.     Discussion  of  these  particulars. 

8.  Elements  in  the  content  of  the  Christian  idea  of  God.  The 
path  of  negation  leads  up  to  the  path  of  affirmation,  dis- 
closing content  of  great  richness.     Four  elements  suggested 


Syllabus  xxxiii 

for  consideration:  timelessness,  presence,  character,  manifes- 
tation. 

9.  Timelessness  of  God.  Perplexing  nature  of  the  time-relation 
in  human  experience.  Method  of  pessimism,  fatalism,  the- 
osophy  in  dealing  with  time-relations.  Christian  religion 
takes  refuge  from  the  transitoriness  of  life  and  the  illusory 
nature  of  time-relations  in  the  Divine  independence  of 
time-relations.     "  The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge." 

Time-relations  considered  as  a  mode  of  the  Divine  self- 
realisation. 

Value  for  Christian  experience  of  the  conception  of  the 
timelessness  of  God:  a  basis  upon  which  to  build  our  earthly 
life,  an  anchorage  for  thought,  giving  stability  to  purpose, 
dignity  to  character,  hope  for  the  world. 

The  timelessness  of  God  one  of  the  perpetual  inspirations 
of  the  Christian  religion. 

10.  Kemaining  elements  reserved  for  next  lecture. 


LECTURE  III 


THE    LOED    JESUS    CHEIST    THE    SUPREME    MANIFESTATION 

OF    GOD 

..  Mere  independence  of  time-relations  not  in  itself  a  quality 
having  religious  value.  Hence,  timelessness  of  God  to  be 
considered  in  connection  with  other  aspects  of  His  being. 
The  conception  of  the  presence  of  God  in  His  world  and  in 
every  creature  expressed  in  Scripture  and  in  later  philo- 
sophical poetry.  Christian  view  of  the  reality  of  the  world  a 
middle  view  between  illusion  and  materialism.  Reality  of 
individualistic  distinctions  affirmed,  but  that  reality  not  inde- 
pendent of  the  action  of  the  mind  in  apprehending  phenom- 
ena. The  unity  of  life  is  the  self-realisation  of  the  Infinite 
Mind  in  and  through  all  that  is.  The  whole  earth  filled  with 
God;  yet  this  not  pantheism,  but  the  presence  of  self- 
conscious,  self-determined  Life.  God's  presence  the  basis  of 
spiritual  potency  in  human  life.  This  fact  lies  at  the  basis 
of  Christian  thought.  The  presence  of  God  is  the  consecra- 
tion of  nature.    The  presence  of  God  is  deliverance  from  the 


xxxiv  Barrows  Lectures 

loneliness  of  finite  personality.  The  presence  of  God  gives 
rational  continuity  to  individual  life  and  to  the  life  of  the 
world. 

2.  The  presence  of  God  to  be  viewed  in  connection  with  the 
character  of  God.  The  charm  of  Christianity  centres  in  the 
character  of  God  as  realised  in  the  Christian  faith.  "  God  is 
light,"  "God  is  love."  Consideration  of  the  light  symbol. 
Recognition  of  its  value  for  non-Christian  faiths.  Physical, 
intellectual,  and  ethical  connotations  of  the  idea  of  light. 
Each  of  these  connotations  considered  in  its  relation  to  the 
Divine  character.  The  glory,  wisdom,  and  righteousness 
of  God.  Symbolic  suggestion  of  self -manifestation.  "God 
is  love,"  the  central  truth  of  Christianity.  Love  a  relation  of 
subject  and  object.  The  Divine  Essence  contains  within  itself 
personal  distinctions  whereby  love  is  realised.  This  love, 
entering  time-relations,  expresses  attitude  of  God  toward 
humanity.  The  heart  of  man  slow  to  believe  that  God  is 
love.  Vastness  of  that  thought.  Tendency  to  regard  God 
as  unfriendly.  This  tendency  augmented  by  the  prevalence 
of  evil.  Christian  religion  founded  upon  the  belief  in  ante- 
cedent love,  which  originates  in  the  Divine  Essence  and  is 
universal  and  personal.  Significance  of  this  belief  as  resist- 
ing pessimistic  depression  and  as  offering  a  channel  for  pent- 
up  affections  of  the  soul. 

3.  The  presence  and  character  of  God  to  be  regarded  in  the 
light  afforded  by  the  manifestation  of  God.  The  self- 
revelation  of  Deity  an  idea  not  peculiar  to  the  Christian 
religion.  Vast  range  of  this  idea  in  the  field  of  eastern 
thought.  Self-revelation  of  Deity  may  be  regarded  as  appar- 
ent rather  than  real,  occurring  as  a  concession  to  human 
limitations;  or  it  may  be  regarded  as  the  outcome  of  meta- 
physical relations  inherent  in  the  nature  of  God.  Incarna- 
tions of  Krishna.  Polytheism.  Christian  belief  in  a  self- 
revealing  principle  inherent  in  the  nature  of  God  as  personal. 
Complete  Divine  self-realisation  demands  self-revelation  to 
finite  existences.    The  manifestation  of  God  normal. 

4.  This  Divine  self-manifestation  enriches  Christian  experience, 
because  a  revelation  of  presence  and  of  moral  character.  The 
manifestation  of  the  presence  of  God  is  made  (a)  through 


Syllabus  xxxv 

nature,  (b)  through  history,  (c)  through  the  spiritual  illumina- 
tion of  man.  Manifestation  through  nature  realised  through 
the  principle  of  evolution.  Influence  of  evolution  upon  modern 
religious  thought.  Manifestation  through  history  contrasted 
with  fatalism  and  pessimism.  Philosophy  of  history.  The 
purpose  of  the  Eternal.  The  hopefulness  of  evolution  in  the 
realm  of  history.  Manifestation  through  the  spiritual  illu- 
mination of  man.  The  indwelling  of  God.  The  witness  of 
the  Spirit.  This  not  pantheism;  but  the  value  of  pantheism 
acknowledged.  The  indwelling  presence  viewed  by  Chris- 
tianity in  connection  with  the  separateness  of  personal  indi- 
viduality. The  channel  of  revelation.  The  Holy  Scriptures 
of  the  Christian  religion  occurring  in  the  evolutionary  order 
of  Divine  self-disclosure.  The  relation  of  these  Scriptures  to 
the  Jewish  nation  incidental.  They  are  of  universal  signifi- 
cance, a  common  doorway  to  the  clearest  vision  of  a  present 
God. 

5.  The  self -revelation  of  the  character  of  God  is  made  in  the 
Person  and  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Moral 
character  manifested  most  conclusively  in  the  terms  of  con- 
crete personality.  The  principle  of  life  as  the  interpretation 
of  character  conditions  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God. 
Incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ  not  the  birth  of  a  hero,  but  the 
revelation  of  the  character  of  the  Eternal  under  the  form  of 
time  and  in  the  terms  of  human  action.  Relation  of  this 
conception  to  the  reality  of  the  finite  individual.  Discrimi- 
nation between  admiration  for  the  moral  beauty  of  the  his- 
toric Christ  and  essential  Christianity  which  regards  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  as  the  incarnate  manifestation 
of  the  eternal  principle  of  Sonship  that  is  in  the  Deity.  This 
point  of  view  assumed  throughout  the  succeeding  lectures. 
Discussion  thus  rendered  unnecessary  of  antecedent  proba- 
bility of  revelation,  relative  merits  of  character  as  between 
Christ  and  non-Christian  sages,  and  resemblance  between 
certain  Christian  and  pre-Christian  traditions. 

6.  Pre-Christian  religions  and  the  problem  of  existence.  Their 
profound  realisation  of  the  sorrow  and  toil  of  life.  Yearning 
to  escape  from  finitude.  Salvation  considered  as  a  deliver- 
ance from  life.     These  conceptions  contain  the  note  of  uni- 


xxxvi  Barroivs  Lectures 

versality  and  point  to  the  deep-seated  human  consciousness 
of  lack  of  power  to  cope  with  the  evil  of  life.  The  Incarna- 
tion of  the  Son  of  God  considered  in  relation  to  this  univer- 
sal yearning.  Its  message,  the  message,  not  of  escape  from 
life,  but  of  the  redemption  of  life  from  evil.  "  I  am  come 
that  ye  might  have  life,  and  that  ye  might  have  it  more  abun- 
dantly." 


LECTURE  IV 

THE    SIN    OF    MAN    AND    THE    SACRIFICE    OF    CHRIST 

1.  The  Christian  religion,  in  common  with  other  religions,  recog- 
nises the  fact  of  sin  and  deals  with  it.  Sin  an  observed  fact. 
Interpretations  of  it  may  differ;  the  fact  persists.  Our  con- 
ception of  the  nature  of  sin  determined  by  our  conception 
of  the  nature  of  God  and  of  finite  personality. 

2.  Primary  message  of  the  Christian  religion  is  deliverance 
from  sin  through  a  Saviour  which  is  Christ  the  Lord.  Ten- 
derness of  Christ  toward  the  sinful  world  and  sinful  persons. 
His  Spirit  reflected  in  true  Christianity.  Fundamental  idea 
of  God  as  Infinite  Personality.  Development  of  this  idea 
leads  to  our  conception  of  finite  personality.  Man  the  off- 
spring of  God  and  a  partaker  of  the  Divine  nature.  Phenome- 
non of  sin  thus  invested  with  extraordinary  significance. 
Consideration  of  the  relation  of  sin  to  life  in  the  philosophy  of 
non-Christian  religions.  Special  consideration  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Karma. 

3.  Attitude  of  essential  Christianity  toward  the  problem  of 
moral  evil;  does  not  regard  moral  evil  as  a  metaphysical 
necessity,  inherent  in  the  nature  of  things.  Nor  is  the  seat 
of  evil  in  the  region  of  physical  being.  Essential  Chris- 
tianity locates  the  seat  of  evil  in  the  will  of  man.  Inquiry 
into  the  nature  of  the  human  will.  The  freedom  of  the  will. 
The  self-assertion  of  the  ego  not  sin.  The  morality  of  the 
will  issues,  not  from  the  fact  of  volition,  but  from  the  ante- 
cedent fact  of  a  divine  order  of  being  which  is  an  absolute 
standard,  and  with  which  the  human  will  is  either  in  har- 
mony or  in  conflict. 


Syllabus  xxxvii 

4.  Analysis  of  the  point  of  view  from  which  Christianity  regards 
the  phenomenon  of  sin: 

a)  An  appreciation  of  the  divine  order  of  the  universe  as  an 
expression  of  the  love  of  God  for  man. 

b)  An  appreciation  of  the  greatness  of  man  as  being  capable 
of  asserting  himself  against  the  divine  order. 

c)  An  appreciation  of  the  sorrowful  and  destructive  results 
of  this  alienation  of  the  finite  ego  from  the  benign  and 
holy  will  of  God. 

5.  Distinctive  contribution  of  the  Christian  religion  to  the  reli- 
gious experience  of  the  world  touching  the  nature  and  effects 
of  sin.  Sin  differentiated  from  outward  and  ceremonial  un- 
cleanness  and  located  in  the  very  centre  of  selfhood.  Essence 
of  sin  consists  in  the  self-assertion  of  the  finite  will  against 
the  divine  order  of  life. 

a)  Sin  in  its  relation  to  God  —  the  denial  of  sovereignty,  an 

offense  against  holy  love. 
6)  Sin  in  its  relation  to  the  sinner  himself  —  a  blow  dealt 

against  one's  self, 
c)   Sin  in  its  relations  to  other  individuals  and  to  society — a 

plague  spread  by  the  one  among  the  many. 

6.  Further  examination  into  the  social  significance  of  sin. 
Christ  parallels  love  to  God  with  love  to  our  neighbor.  Sin 
a  social  offense.  Personal  repentance  does  not  undo  the 
social  consequences  of  sin.  Study  of  the  problem  of  life 
widespread  as  twentieth  century  opens.  That  study  ancient 
in  itself,  but  takes  on  new  meaning  in  our  time.  It  pos- 
sesses a  new  hopefulness,  a  recognition  of  the  value  of  the 
present  life  and  the  possibility  of  making  it  worth  living. 
This  new  note  of  hopefulness  in  the  modern  study  of  life 
attributed  (a)  to  the  progress  of  physical  science  in  discover- 
ing better  modes  of  living;  (6)  to  the  advance  in  social 
science  toward  an  appreciation  of  the  worth  of  life;  (c)  to  the 
evident  discrepancy  between  what  life  is  and  what  it  might 
be  for  the  masses  of  men. 

7.  The  supreme  question  that  confronts  those  in  all  lands  who 
share  this  hope  of  reforming  the  condition  of  humanity  is : 
where  to  obtain  power  competent  to  uplift  the  world  and 
make  it  morally  new.    The  sadness  of  the  pre-Christian  reli- 


xxxviii  Barrows  Lectures 

gions.  Pessimistic  view  of  life.  The  pessimistic  philosophy 
unable  to  supply  the  moral  dynamic  for  which  the  best 
thought  of  the  present  is  seeking.  Conviction  of  the  lecturer 
that  this  dynamic  is  found  alone  in  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
holy  sacrifice  for  men.  This  not  discarding  other  religions 
which  have  accomplished  other  ends.  It  emphasises  the 
distinctive  function  of  Christianity,  which  is  to  uplift  human 
lives  by  saving  them  from  sin.  This  function  attested  by 
the  Christian  experience  of  innumerable  and  widely  separated 
persons. 
8.  The  extent  and  positiveness  of  this  testimony  raises  the 
question:  Who,  then,  is  Christ?  His  own  answer  given:  "I 
am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega. " 
Examination  of  the  work  of  Christ: 

a)  Emerging  in  the  fulness  of  time  to  co-ordinate  and  unify 
the  religious  life  of  the  race. 

b)  The  self -revealing  God. 

c)  The  sin-condemning  Judge. 

d)  The  suffering  Saviour. 


LECTURE  V 


THE    IDEAS    OF    HOLINESS    AND    IMMORTALITY    INTERPRETED 
BY    CHRISTIAN    EXPERIENCE 

1.  Recapitulation  of  the  foregoing  argument  concerning  the 
nature  of  sin;  the  conscience  of  earnest  men  touching  the 
social  aspects  of  sin;  the  testimony  of  Christian  experience  as 
to  the  power  of  Christ  to  deliver  from  sin.  Christ  the  self- 
revealing  God;  the  sin-condemning  Judge;  the  suffering 
Saviour. 

2.  The  risen  Christ  considered  as  the  life-giving  Spirit  who  is 
the  type  and  standard  of  humanity.  Conformity  to  Christ 
the  solution,  for  the  individual,  of  the  ethical  problem.  The 
evolution  of  the  concept  "  Holiness."  Holiness  in  primitive 
religion  non-ethical,  implying  the  reservation  of  objects  or 
persons  for  use  in  connection  with  religious  rites.  Ceremo- 
nial cleanness  and  uncleanness.  Holiness  considered  as  self- 
abstraction  from  an  illusory  world.     The  Christian  conception 


Syllabus  xxxix 

of  holiness  assimilates  the  ideas  of  dedication  of  places,  or 
persons,  or  physical  separation  from  defilement,  and  of  self- 
abstraction  from  a  transitory  world.  The  essence  of  the 
Christian  conception  of  holiness  not  external  and  ceremonial; 
but  inward,  ethical,  spiritual.  The  will  is  the  seat  of  holi- 
ness; the  essence  of  holiness  is  normal  relation  to  God. 
The  Christian  conception  of  holiness  rational,  noble,  full  of 
hope  and  outlook;  an  idea  of  power.  Absolute  moral  beauty 
of  God's  character  the  deepest  element  in  this  conception. 
Philosophical  conclusion  verified  in  history  and  in  experi- 
ence, through  Jesus  Christ.  Ethical  beauty  of  the  character 
of  Christ.    Holiness  of  Christ  not  ceremonial. 

3.  The  moral  reason  of  man ;  its  power  to  make  rational  appeals 
to  conscience  and  will.  Christianity  exalts  the  dignity  of 
man.  Man  of  common  essence  with  God.  Differentiation 
of  man  from  animals.  Discussion  of  the  doctrine  of  trans- 
migration, in  its  relation  to  animals.  On  abstaining  from 
the  flesh  of  animals.  Correspondence  of  man  with  God 
interrupted  by  sin.  Moral  conflict  of  the  inner  life;  a 
struggle  realised  by  the  noblest  natures.  Instinct  of  the 
soul  in  temptation  to  appeal  to  God. 

4.  The  indwelling  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  spirits  of  men. 
This  indwelling  not  incompatible  with  full  liberty  of  indi- 
viduality. The  holy  life  stands  for  more  than  the  elementary 
instincts  of  kindness  or  compassion.  It  stands  for  more 
than  the  unaided  action  of  the  moral  reason.  It  implies  a 
personal  Power  taking  up  its  abode  in  the  soul.  The  indwell- 
ing of  the  Comforter. 

5.  This  being  the  foundation  on  which  the  Christian  conception 
of  holiness  rests,  its  characteristic  notes  of  expression  corre- 
spond therewith.     Discussion  of  these. 

a)  Attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  sin  involves  the  elements 
of  appreciation,  antagonism,  sorrow.  Appreciation  of  sin 
progressive  in  Christian  experience. 

b)  Attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  self.  The  Yoga  philoso- 
phy.    Individuality.     Consecration.     Stewardship. 

c)  Attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  God.  Desire;  longing; 
love.     Discussion  of  the  nature  of  prayer. 

d)  Attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  society.     Social  attitude 


xl  Barrows  Lectures 

of  Christianity  contrasted  with  Hinduism  and  Buddhism. 
Reality  of  the  individual.  Goodness  of  existence, 
e)  Attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  a  future  state  of  being. 
Death.  The  philosophical  significance  of  death  can  be 
stated  only  in  the  terms  of  life  continuing  beyond  the 
grave.  The  Christian  view  of  immortality,  and  its  contri- 
bution to  the  worth  of  existence  in  this  world. 


LECTURE  VI 


REASONS    FOR    REGARDING    CHRISTIANITY   AS   THE   ABSOLUTE 

RELIGION 

1.  Fairness  and  profitableness  of  broad  discussion  of  this  theme 
by  educated  men.  India  a  suitable  place  for  such  discussion 
by  reason  of  its  pre-eminent  interest  in  religious  thought. 
Reasonableness  of  using  the  best  and  most  available  things 
in  commerce,  education,  or  religion,  without  regard  to  the 
fact  that  such  things  may  be  used  also  by  those  with  whom, 
on  other  grounds,  we  are  not  in  sympathy. 

2.  Two  forces  in  modern  times  have  promoted  the  possibility  of 
such  discussion  as  the  present ;  viz.,  the  growth  of  tolerance, 
and  the  advance  in  the  study  of  comparative  religion. 
Observations  upon  these.  These  forces  interpreted  by  the 
lecturer  as  pointing  to  a  larger  synthesis  in  matters  of  reli- 
gion, in  order  to  a  broader  and  more  rational  fellowship 
among  seekers  after  God. 

3.  The  first  step  toward  that  larger  synthesis  a  definition  of  the 
term  "absolute,"  as  applied  to  religion.  The  term  differen- 
tiated from  the  monarchical  idea,  and  associated  with  what- 
ever implies  the  opposite  of  the  terms  "provisional,"  "local/' 
"  temporary,"  and  "  approximate." 

4.  The  quality  of  universality  found  to  be  the  most  distinctive 
note  of  an  absolute  religion.  Universality  of  a  religion  not 
determined  by  number  of  converts,  but  by  intrinsic  capacity 
to  meet  the  needs  of  man.  This  test  must  be  applied  in  the 
categories  (a)  of  the  conception  of  God ;  (b)  of  time  and 
place ;  (c)  of  social  ideal ;  (d)  of  concurrence  with  reality. 

5.  Can  there  be  conceived  the  existence  of  an  absolute  religion 


Syllabus  xli 

in  the  world  as  we  know  it  ?  This  becomes  conceivable  for 
those  who  believe  (a)  the  essential  unity  of  the  human  race ; 
(6)  the  universality  of  religious  sentiment ;  (c)  the  practical 
advantages  that  would  result  from  the  development  of  such 
a  religion.    Consideration  of  these. 

Does  any  existing  religion  appear  to  combine  the  character- 
istics required  for  such  immense  service  to  humanity  ?  This 
determined  by  the  question  (a)  of  origin ;  (6)  of  philosophical 
method;  (c)  of  moral  initiative;  (d)  of  hopefulness. 
Examination  of  the  Christian  religion  by  these  tests.  The 
limitations  and  hindrances  of  Christianity  admitted ;  but  its 
fitness  to  be  regarded  as  the  absolute  religion  maintained  on 
the  grounds  (a)  of  suitability  of  origin ;  (6)  of  breadth  of 
philosophical  method ;  (c)  of  strength  of  moral  initiative ; 
(d)  of  essential  hopefulness. 

The  relation  of  the  East  to  this  absolute  religion.  Conclu- 
sion of  the  lecturer :  (a)  that  the  allegiance  of  the  East  to 
Christianity  would  involve  no  compromise  of  the  national 
spirit ;  (b)  that  the  East  is  needed,  in  order  that  full  expres- 
sion may  be  given  to  the  essential  conceptions  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith. 


FIRST  LECTURE 

THE  NATURE  OF  RELIGION 

To  be  in  India  ;  to  observe  its  civilisation  ;  to  commune 
with  the  leaders  of  its  intellectual  and  religious  life — this, 
tor  me,  is  the  fulfilment  of  a  long-treasured  hope.  From 
the  days  of  my  boyhood  my  heart  has  turned  toward 
India  with  tender  and  respectful  affection.  Subtle  are 
the  influences  that  play  upon  our  lives,  swaying  our 
emotions,  predetermining  our  choices.  These  words  are 
written  in  the  Christian  Scriptures :  "  The  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but 
canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth." 
So  are  our  lives  beset  from  birth  by  viewless  forces  that 
quicken  sentiment  and  nourish  purpose,  we  know  not 
how.  With  the  persistence  of  the  southwestern  monsoon 
they  breathe  upon  us  from  out  of  the  ocean  of  an  infinite 
past ;  they  impel  us  toward  a  coast  that  the  mind  explores 
long  ere  the  eyes  behold  it.  So  was  my  life  impelled 
toward  India  by  an  invisible  breath  of  tendency,  breathing 
upon  my  years  from  boyhood  onward ;  a  persistent  yet 
most  gentle  impulse  that  filled  my  heart  with  love  toward 
brethren  unseen,  yet  not  unknown.  Long  before  my  eyes 
descried  the  headlands  of  your  coast,  long  before  I 
received  the  academic  commission  in  obedience  to  which 
I  have  travelled  hither,  my  heart  prophesied  of  India,  by 
the  warmth  of  its  longings,  by  the  tenderness  of  its  sym- 
pathies, by  the  sincerity  of  its  admiration. 

But,  great  as  is  the  joy  of  beholding  the  lives  toward 
whom  one  has  been  impelled  by  these  desires,  the  mere 
sense  of  personal  satisfaction  could  not  sustain  me  in  the 

1 


2  Barrows  Lectures 

purpose  that  brings  me  hither.  That  purpose  is  not  the 
pleasurable  diversion  of  the  traveler,  nor  the  idyllic 
reverie  of  the  sentimentalist ;  it  is  the  intellectual  and 
spiritual  purpose  of  the  seeker  after  truth,  who,  coming 
from  the  remote  and  youthful  West,  would  commune  with 
his  brethren  of  the  East  concerning  grave  problems  of 
the  soul  and  of  God.  But  it  would  be  an  act  of  presump- 
tion, were  I,  purely  on  personal  grounds,  to  ask  such 
communion  with  minds  trained  in  the  disciplines  of 
ancient  philosophies;  or  to  attempt  the  utterance  of  my 
private  convictions  in  the  presence  of  students  and  apolo- 
gists of  religions  that  were  world-forces  before  northern 
Europe  had  emerged  from  barbarism,  or  America  had 
been  aroused  from  prehistoric  solitude.  Not  with  such 
rashness  do  I  speak.  It  is  my  privilege  to  stand  in  your 
presence  as  an  ambassador  of  a  University  which,  in  that 
distant  West,  the  echoes  of  whose  activities  have  reached 
your  ears,  maintains  at  its  full  value  the  appreciation  of 
pure  thought,  especially  of  religious  thought,  as  that 
function  of  personality  by  means  of  which  chiefly  the 
brotherhood  of  men  is  realised  and  promoted.  Thoughts, 
not  things,  reveal  the  kinship  of  human  spirits,  and  by 
the  comparison  of  thoughts  men  see  in  one  another  the 
common  life  of  God.  To  compare  political  institutions 
or  social  customs  or  physical  productions  may  tend  only 
to  alienation,  accentuating  the  remoteness  of  the  oriental 
point  of  view  from  that  determined  by  the  more  strenuous 
utilitarianism  of  the  West.  And  that  this  tendency  to 
alienation  is  probable  along  such  lines  of  comparison  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  local  and  occasional  cir- 
cumstances, rather  than  universal  forces,  operate  to  fix 
the  character  of  political  institutions,  social  customs,  and 
physical  productions. 


The  Nature  of  Religion  3 

But  when  the  mind  enters  the  sanctuary  of  pure 
thought,  it  breathes  the  atmosphere  of  universality.  As 
the  sandals  of  the  worshipper  are  left  without  the  door  of 
the  mosque  of  Islam,  so  he  that  aspires  to  meditate  before 
the  shrine  of  truth  should  leave  behind  him  whatsoever  is 
carnal  and  external,  should  enter  with  that  only  which  is 
of  the  essence  of  personality.  Within  that  sanctuary  of 
pure  thought  geographical  and  racial  boundaries  exist 
not ;  age-long  barriers  dissolve,  and  the  vast  brotherhood 
of  souls  is  disclosed  in  the  presence  of  fundamental 
problems  of  God  and  of  life. 

We  of  the  West  have  known  you  as,  by  inheritance 
and  by  temperament,  the  lovers  of  pure  thought.  The 
threshold  of  that  sanctuary  is  worn  with  the  entering  of 
your  reverent  feet.  The  memorials  of  many  generations 
attest  your  fidelity  as  seekers  after  truth.  And  we  also 
of  the  West  are  lovers  of  thought  and  seekers  after  truth. 
Beneath  the  loud  note  of  our  urgent  life  of  action  is  an 
undertone  of  spiritual  seriousness.  For  many  among  us 
the  supreme  interest  of  existence  lies  within  the  sanctuary 
of  pure  thought,  in  the  contemplation  and  comparison  of 
ideas  rather  than  in  the  acquisition  of  things.  Pre- 
eminently sacred  in  our  eyes  are  those  spiritual  concep- 
tions and  beliefs  which,  .  assuming  diverse  forms  in  the 
several  ethnic  groups,  are  witnesses  throughout  the  whole 
family  of  man  to  the  fact  of  religion  as  a  common 
possession  of  the  world;  not  the  idiosyncrasy  of  a  nation, 
but  the  inseparable  attribute  of  human  life.  As  the  rep- 
resentative of  such  a  circle  do  I  come.  In  the  youngest 
of  the  great  universities  of  the  world,  the  University  of 
Chicago,  founded  at  the  territorial  centre  of  the  American 
continent,  the  love  of  thought  and  the  quest  of  truth  flourish 
in  an  atmosphere  of  cosmopolitan  sympathy.     There  the 


4  Barrows  Lectures 

one  brotherhood  of  mankind  is  recognised,  and  the  mani- 
fold hopes,  strivings,  joys,  and  sorrows  of  remote  com- 
munities are  honoured  and,  in  a  measure,  comprehended. 
There,  especially,  the  religious  conceptions  and  convic- 
tions of  distant  nations  are  viewed  with  respect,  and  a 
serious  effort  is  made  to  understand  them,  as  historical 
expressions  of  one  of  the  fundamental  activities  of  the 
human  mind. 

The  Oriental  lectureship,  of  which  I  have  the  honour  to 
be  the  present  incumbent,  was  instituted  as  an  evidence 
of  that  interest  in  the  religious  life  of  man  which  charac- 
terises the  University  of  Chicago.  It  is  the  belief  of  the 
University  that  a  comparison  of  points  of  view  in  matters 
of  religion  is  desirable;  and  that  effort,  on  the  one  hand 
to  present,  on  the  other  to  comprehend,  the  content  of  the 
leading  ideas  of  any  religion  must  be  approved  by  candid 
minds,  and  may  advance  the  cause  of  truth.  In  this  spirit 
the  University  welcomes  from  time  to  time  those  who  are 
competent  to  interpret  the  essential  principles  of  Oriental 
faiths.  To  such  she  gives  heed,  desiring  to  comprehend 
the  messages  that  they  bring  and  to  compare  those  mes- 
sages with  the  characteristic  conceptions  of  Christianity. 
In  the  same  spirit,  she  sends,  from  time  to  time,  her 
representatives  to  the  East,  charging  them  faithfully  to  set 
forth  the  innermost  essence  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  bespeaking  for  them  that  patient  and  generous  hear- 
ing which  is  one  of  the  many  beautiful  traditions  of  Indian 
courtesy.  It  is  felt  that  such  interchange  of  view  is  rea- 
sonable and  wholesome.  It  is  a  substitute  for  that 
ignorance  concerning  the  sacred  beliefs  of  our  fellow-men 
which  is  the  mother  of  injustice  and  error.  It  is  a  protest 
against  that  narrowness  which  is  willing  to  receive  the 
superficial  or  prejudiced  statements  of  the  uninstructed  in 


The  Nature  of  Religion  5 

lieu  of  such  as  are  uttered  with  the  certitude  and  maturity 
of  knowledge.  It  is,  finally,  an  appeal  to  truth,  which,  to 
all  who  know  its  value,  is  the  one  thing  to  be  sought  at 
all  hazards,  to  be  obtained  at  all  costs.  Truth  is  the  pearl 
of  great  price,  to  gain  which  a  man  well  may  part  with 
all  that  he  has.  Truth  is  the  ideal  of  the  single-minded, 
to  approach  which  brings  a  delight  that  rewards  all 
renunciation,  a  hope  that  survives  all  disquietudes  involved 
in  the  reconstruction  of  opinion,  a  peace  of  God  which 
passeth  all  understanding. 

With  this  statement  of  my  mission  to  India  as  a  Uni- 
versity representative,  and  with  these  observations  con- 
cerning our  relation  to  one  another  as  lovers  of  pure 
thought  and  fellow-seekers  after  truth,  I  advance  to  the 
body  of  my  subject,  which  has  been  announced  as  a  series 
of  Lectures  on  Christian  Belief  Interpreted  by  Christian 
Experience.  I  invite  you  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  a 
religion ;  and  to  do  this  in  the  modern  spirit  and  from  the 
modern  point  of  view.  It  has  been  said  recently  that,  in 
one  sense,  "the  study  of  religion  is  as  old  as  human 
thought,  but,  in  another  and  more  pertinent  sense,  it  is 
the  youngest  of  the  sciences.  The  moment  that  man  in  a 
self-conscious  spirit  ponders  over  the  religious  beliefs 
which  he  holds,  or  which  have  been  handed  down  to  him 
as  a  legacy,  he  is  engaged  in  the  study  of  religion;  and 
we  know  that  such  a  moment  comes  at  an  early  stage  in 
the  development  of  human  culture,  if  not  to  the  masses,  at 
all  events  to  certain  individuals."1 

In  approaching  India  I  am  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  the  educated  classes  pre-eminently  are  students  of 
religion,  learned  in  their  faiths,  and,  where  agnosticism 
has   not   superseded   belief,  jealous    of   their    traditions. 

i  Jasteow,  The  Study  of  Religion,  pp.  1,  2. 


6  Barrows  Lectures 

Intelligent  communities,  from  the  earliest  times,  have 
engaged  in  the  study  and  maintenance  of  their  respective 
faiths.  Such  study  of  religion  marks  the  history  of  Hin- 
duism and  of  Mohammedanism,  even  as  it  was  conspicuous 
among  the  learned  Jews  of  the  time  of  Christ.  Histori- 
cally, this  study  and  maintenance  of  one's  own  faith  fre- 
quently has  been  attended  with  indifference  and  disdain 
toward  the  beliefs  of  others,  or  with  attempts  to  restrain 
or  to  extirpate  those  beliefs  by  violence.  But  in  modern 
times  the  study  of  religion  has  acquired  new  forin  and 
content,  has  projected  itself  upon  new  lines,  has  become 
possessed  of  a  new  spirit.  The  nature  of  this  change  is 
not  that  thoughtful  men  are  less  interested  in  what  they 
themselves  believe,  but  that  they  are  more  interested  in 
what  others  believe,  and  more  anxious  to  comprehend  the 
relative  values  of  all  beliefs  as  factors  in  the  evolution  of 
the  religious  life  of  man  in  God's  universe.  In  this  sense 
the  study  of  religion  is  not  old,  but  new :  it  is  the  young- 
est, the  fairest,  the  divinest  of  the  sciences.  It  is  not 
provincial;  it  is  not  national;-  it  is  not  ecclesiastical;  it  is 
not  racial;  it  is  broadly,  tenderly  human.  It  knows  no 
East,  no  West;  it  knows  only  that  "God  hath  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the  times  before  appointed 
and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation;  that  they  should  seek 
after  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  Him,  and 
find  Him,  though  He  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us,  for 
in  Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being."1 

In  the  West — that  is  to  say,  throughout  Europe  and 
America — this  new  and  beautiful  science  of  religion 
almost  has  swept  away  the  old  provincialism  that  permit- 
ted one  to  cherish  his  own  belief  and  contemptuously  to 

i  Acts  27:  26-28. 


The  Nature  of  Religion  7 

dismiss  the  beliefs  of  others  as  the  meaningless  vagaries 
of  heathenism.  Christians  who  still  prefer  that  narrow- 
ness retain  it  at  the  price  of  dropping  astern  of  the  noblest 
modern  thought.  The  religious  thought  of  the  West  is 
being  reconstructed  on  broader  lines,  and  its  leaders 
ascend  to  higher  points  of  view  and  sweep  a  larger  horizon. 
Nor  is  it  difficult  to  account  for  this  change,  and  to 
answer  the  questions  put  forth  at  Edinburgh,  a  few 
years  since,  by  the  Master  of  Balliol.  "What  is  it,"  said 
he,  "that  has  awakened  the  new  modern  interest  in  the 
science  of  religion,  and  has  given  rise  to  the  persistent 
attempts  which  are  now  being  made  to  investigate  the 
facts  of  religious  history  in  all  times  and  places?  What 
is  it  that  has  made  us  carry  our  inquiries  beyond  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  are  directly  con- 
nected with  our  own  religious  life,  and  beyond  the  classical 
mythology,  which  is  immediately  bound  up  with  our 
literary  culture;  that  has  set  to  our  scholars  the  task  of 
analysing  the  sacred  books  of  all  nations,  and  seeking  for 
the  key  of  all  the  mythologies?1'1  I  do  not  know  with 
what  feelings  Indians  regard  the  modern  interest  shown 
by  western  scholars  in  the  sacred  writings  of  the  East.  I 
do  not  know  whether,  in  your  hearts,  you  observe  this 
scrutiny  with  satisfaction,  or  whether  it  seems  to  you  as 
the  irritating  curiosity  of  aliens,  intruding  into  your 
sanctuaries  of  thought  and  handling  with  unhallowed 
touch  your  most  venerated  inheritances.  But  I  beg  leave 
to  assure  you  that,  while  some  promoters  of  the  study  of 
comparative  religion  may  have  no  warmer  interest  in  that 
research  than  critical  analysis,  the  essential  motives  behind 
the  new  science  of  religion  are  reverential  and  full  of  ten- 
derness.    These  motives  spring  from  the  modern  views  of 

1  E.  Caied,  The  Evolution  of  Religion  (Giilord  Lectures),  Vol.  I,  p.  12. 


8  Barrows  Lectures 

the  unity  of  mankind,  of  the  co-operative  evolution  of  the 
race,  and  of  the  origin  of  religion.  You  will  permit  me 
to  say  a  word  concerning  each  of  these. 

It  has  been  said  that  "the  idea  of  the  unity  of  man 
has,  within  the  last  century,  become  not  merely  a  dogma, 
but  an  almost  instinctive  presupposition  of  all  civilized 
men."1  This  unity  is  not  superficial  and  apparent,  it  is 
profound  and  esoteric ;  it  exists  not  in  the  speech  or  cus- 
tom, but  in  the  spirit,  of  humanity,  beneath  and  within  all 
political,  social,  cultural,  religious,  racial  distinctions.  To 
affirm  it  is  not  to  deny  the  reality  or  the  reasonableness  of 
such  distinctions.  To  believe  it  is  not  to  give  one's  self 
over  to  a  mad  democracy  that  would  obliterate  natural 
boundaries;  nor  is  it  to  attack  indiscriminately  the  insti- 
tutions of  caste;  still  less  is  it  to  dispose  of  the  ancient 
variations  of  religious  type  by  a  process  of  blind  negation. 
I  hold  that  even  the  most  rigorous  tenure  of  the  doctrines 
of  caste  is  compatible  with  an  acknowledgment  of  the  unity 
of  mankind ;  and  that,  whatever  our  religious  opinion  may 
be,  this  acknowledgment  is  made  an  intellectual  necessity 
by  the  results  of  scientific  research  into  the  anatomic  struc- 
ture, the  genius,  the  primitive  conceptions  of  man  at  all 
times  and  throughout  all  races.  I  quite  agree  with 
Nadaillac  in  his  statement:  "We  believe  it  impossible  to 
misapprehend  or  mistake  the  multiplied  proofs  that  flow 
from  modern  researches,  all  of  which  affirm  with  an  irre- 
futable eloquence  the  unity  of  the  human  species."2  As 
this  idea  of  the  unity  of  mankind  has  become  positive,  tak- 
ing on  the  attributes  of  a  living  force,  it  has  swept  over 
the  field  of  modern  thinking  with  the  transforming  power 

i  Caird,  loc.  cit.,  p.  15. 

2  See  a  paper  by  Marquis  de  Nadaillac,  translated  from  Revue  des  ques- 
tions scientifiques  in  Report  of  Board  of  Regents,  Smithsonian  Institution,  1897 
(published  by  Societe  scientifique  de  Bruxelles,  2d  series,  Vol.  XII,  October  20 

1897). 


The  Nature  of  Religion  9 

of  a  new  dispensation.  It  has  enlarged  the  scope  of  all 
the  great  human  problems. 

Especially  has  it  affected  the  problem  of  religion,  which 
no  longer  can  be  a  national  or  tribal  or  ecclesiastical  prob- 
lem, but  henceforth  must  be  viewed  as  one  of  the  universal 
human  interests,  a  fact  imbedded  in  the  underlying  unity 
of  the  race  and  expressing  itself  locally  through  many 
faiths  and  forms. 

The  new  science  of  religion  takes  note  also  of  the 
co-operative  evolution  of  the  race.  The  family  of  man  is 
one  family ;  the  nature  of  man  is  one  nature ;  the  identity 
of  the  human  spirit  persists  always,  everywhere,  beneath 
all  distinctions.  So,  as  from  the  high  towers  of  thought 
men  have  viewed  the  long  track  of  history,  they  have  come 
to  realise  that  the  condition  of  the  human  race  is  not  fixed ; 
it  advances,  moving,  as  it  were,  toward  a  goal.  In  this 
evolutionary  progress  of  the  race,  as  in  the  struggle  of 
personal  existence,  nations,  like  individuals,  take  part,  con- 
tributing to,  or  fighting  against  the  onward  movement. 
That  onward  movement  is  spiritual  as  well  as  material;  it 
consists  not  only  in  the  extension  of  civilisation,  the  inter- 
change of  arts,  the  communal  use  of  sciences;  it  consists 
also  in  the  evolution  of  the  religious  consciousness  of  man 
toward  the  absolute  truth.  In  that  evolution  all  religions 
make  their  contributions,  and  each,  perchance,  may  give 
something  that  is  necessary  to  the  fulness  of  truth.  The 
science  of  religion  takes  note  of  the  evolutionary  signifi- 
cance of  every  form  of  faith,  and  attempts  to  estimate  its 
approximation  to  the  absolute  truth  by  its  religious  value 
in  view  of  the  requirements  and  possibilities  of  the  spirit 
of  man. 

But  we  must  go  one  step  farther  in  estimating  the 
motives  that  impart  to  the  new  science  of  religion  its  rever- 


10  Barrows  Lectures 

ence  and  its  tenderness.  To  say  that  a  sense  of  the  oneness 
of  the  race  of  man  has  become  a  living  force  in  the  study  of 
religion,  and  that  the  history  of  religion  now  is  looked  upon 
as  an  evolutionary  process  whereby  the  various  branches 
of  the  human  family  have  contributed  to  the  sum  of  man's 
aspiration  toward  God,  is  not  to  exhaust  the  reasons  why 
the  modern  science  of  religion  is,  in  its  best  manifesta- 
tions, full  of  the  notes  of  brotherhood  and  of  reverence 
for  the  convictions  of  others.  One  other  reason  should  be 
cited.  Many  of  the  noblest  minds  of  our  time  are  gain- 
ing a  new  view  of  the  origin  of  religion.  When  we  use  the 
phrase  "the  origin  of  religion,"  we  may  mean  one  of  two 
things:  its  historical  beginning  as  an  element  in  the  evo- 
lution of  the  race,  or  its  psychological  source,  its  fountain 
and  origin  in  the  nature  of  man.  I  use  the  phrase  in  the 
latter  sense,  and  this  use  will,  I  am  sure,  commend  itself 
to  my  learned  Indian  hearers;  for  all  philosophical  minds 
have  a  common  interest  in  every  attempt  to  determine  the 
source,  within  ourselves,  whence  spring  the  religious  aspi- 
rations and  beliefs  of  man. 

It  is  impossible  to  satisfy  thinkers  of  our  time  with 
the  view  that  gained  ascendency  in  France  and  England 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  that  religion  is  the  product  of  a 
system  of  fables  and  superstitions  imposed  upon  man  by 
priests  acting  from  motives  of  self-interest.  We  can 
understand  how  from  time  to  time  philosophy  has  revolted 
from  scholasticism  and  ecclesiasticism,  asserting  its  right 
to  think  for  itself ;  and  how  such  men  as  Benedict  Spinoza1 
and  John  Toland,2  Europeans  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
themselves  deeply  religious,  could,  by  their  impassioned 
repudiations  of  priestcraft,  encourage  in  their  successors 

J  Spinoza,  Tractatus  Theologico-Politicus  (ed.  London,  1862),  pp.  19-25. 
2  Toland,  Christianity  Not  Mysterious  (London,  1696),  pp.  3-30, 158-176. 


The  Nature  of  Religion  11 

the  anti-religious  spirit  that  may  be  said  to  culminate  in 
Voltaire.  But,  whatever  our  opinions  about  sacerdotalism 
may  be,  as  students  of  the  psychology  of  human  life  we 
know  that  priests  are,  not  the  creators,  but  the  products 
of  religion ;  that  "  religion  is  older  than  any  form  of  priest- 
hood;"1 and  that  the  source  of  religion  is  not  outside  of 
us,  but  within  ourselves.  Nor  can  the  thinker  of  today  be 
satisfied  with  the  attempt  to  account  for  religion  upon  the 
theory  of  a  primitive  revelation  made  to  man.  For  not 
only  is  evidence  of  such  a  primitive  revelation  inaccessible, 
but  the  possibility  of  man's  receiving  and  appropriating  it, 
if  it  were  given,  seems  to  call  for  the  presence,  within  him- 
self, antecedently,  of  qualifications  that  must  be  essentially 
religious.  A  religious  revelation  could  possess  no  meaning 
for  a  non-religious  being.  Before  a  God  can  reveal  his 
mind  and  will  to  man,  man  must  be  endowed  with  power  to 
apprehend  the  thing  revealed,  and  that  power  is  religion. 
I  need  not  say,  that  I  believe  in  divine  revelation,  oral  and 
written,  and  that  that  belief  conditions  all  that  I  shall  pre- 
sent in  these  lectures ;  but  I  look  in  vain  to  that  source  for 
the  spring  of  religion  in  man.  That  spring  must  be  within 
himself.2 

Disregarding  the  theories  of  priestly  invention  and 
primitive  revelation,  modern  thought  has  sought  for  that 
in  man  himself  which  could  account  psychologically  for 
the  great  fact  of  religion.  And  in  this  search  it  has 
explored  many  lines.  Some  have  attempted  to  find  the 
well-spring  of  religion  in  the  disposition  of  primitive 
peoples  to  connect  the  presence  of  spirits  with  certain 
natural  objects,  as  trees,  stones,  streams,  or  with  certain 
natural  phenomena,  as  lightning,  wind,  and  rain ;  attribut- 

1  Jasteow,  The  Study  of  Religion,  p.  180. 

2Cf.  Fairbairn,  Studies  in  the  Philosophy  of  Religion  and  History  (London, 
1876),  pp.  13, 14. 


12  Barrows  Lectures 

ing  to  emotions  of  terror,  astonishment,  or  admiration, 
excited  by  those  objects,  the  genesis  of  feelings  afterwards 
evolved  into  the  religious  conceptions  of  civilised  peoples.1 
Others,  reflecting  upon  the  obvious  mystery  of  death,  and 
the  removal  of  beloved  or  honoured  personages  from  the 
visible  world,  have  sought  to  show  that  in  the  worship  of 
ancestors  and  the  belief  in  ghosts  we  find  the  spring  of 
that  disposition  to  yearn  toward  the  unseen  and  to  be 
influenced  by  the  unseen  which  grows  ultimately  into  the 
experience  of  religion.2  Still  others,  regarding  religion 
as  an  illusion,  have  claimed  that  it  arises  from  man's 
consciousness  of  his  own  weakness,  as  he  finds  himself 
surrounded  by  the  incalculable  powers  of  nature.  Over- 
whelmed by  forces  that  disclose  to  him,  through  contrast, 
his  own  insignificance,  he  makes  a  blind  and  gloomy  effort 
to  propitiate  those  forces.3  And  others,  rising  to  a  higher 
ground,  hold  that  we  should  look  for  the  well-spring  of 
religion,  not  in  its  most  base  and  primitive  forms,  but  in 
its  maturest  forms.  They  claim  that  the  germinative 
principle  of  religion  most  clearly  will  disclose  itself  in  the 
highest  religion,  even  as  we  understand  humanity  best  by 
studying  the  full-grown  man  rather  than  the  undeveloped 
infant.4  Upon  this  theory  the  psychological  source  of 
religion  is  very  noble.  It  is  not  man's  disposition  to  people 
woods  and  fields  with  spirits;  it  is  not  the  worship  of 
ancestral  ghosts;  it  is  not  the  pessimistic  struggle  with 
the  insuperable  powers  of  nature.  It  is  that  which  is 
most  godlike  in  the  soul  of  man,  the  perception  of  the 
Infinite,  the  yearning  after  the  boundless,  uncreated  Mind 

1  Cf.  throughout,  for  a  theory  of  animism,  Tyloe's  elaborate  work,    Prc'mt- 
iive  Culture  (2  vols.,  London,  1903). 

2  Cf.  Spencee,  Principles  of  Sociology,  in  loco. 
*Cf  Haetmann,  Das  Religidse,  etc.,  p.  27. 

*  For  a  fine  discussion  of  this  idea  cf.  Caied;  op.  cit.,  Vol!  I,  Lect.  2. 


The  Nature  of  Religion  13 

that  inhabiteth  eternity.  When  I  mention  the  earliest  and 
chiefest  of  the  modern  scientific  apologists  of  this  theory 
of  the  psychological  well-spring  of  religion,  I  name  one 
for  whom  I  believe  all  learned  Indians  entertain  feelings 
of  respect  and  friendship,  the  late  Professor  Friedrich 
Max  Muller,  of  Oxford.  It  was  his  contention,  maintained 
to  the  end  of  his  long  life  of  research,  that  the  perception 
of  the  Infinite  can  be  shown  by  historical  evidence  to  have 
been  the  one  element  shared  in  common  by  all  religions; 
beginning  in  the  lower  forms  with  the  simple  negation  of 
what  is  finite,  and  the  assertion  of  an  invisible  beyond, 
and  leading  up  to  a  perceptive  belief  in  that  most  real 
Infinite  in  which  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. 
To  use  his  own  words:  "The  source  of  all  religion  in  the 
human  heart  is  the  perception  of  the  Infinite,  the  yearning 
of  the  soul  after  God."1 

As  men  accustomed  to  ponder  this  mystery  of  religion 
which  we  perceive  to  exist  within  ourselves,  I  feel  that  I 
carry  your  approval  with  me  when  I  affirm  that  a  phenom- 
enon so  great  in  itself,  so  universal  in  its  scope,  cannot 
have  originated  in  dreams,  or  in  fears,  or  even  in  rever- 
ence for  the  dead. 

Such  causes,  however  worthy  in  themselves,  are  inade- 
quate to  produce  a  result  that  binds  together  all  nations 
and  kindreds  and  peoples  and  tongues  in  the  brotherhood 
of  a  common  experience,  which,  in  its  multifarious  forms 
of  expression,  has  been  the  most  potent  of  all  influences 
in  shaping  the  world's  history.  I  believe  that  you  will 
give  your  assent  to  these  affecting  words  concerning  the 
origin  of  religion  in  the  heart  of  man,  spoken,  in  1878, 
by  one  of  the  greatest  of  European  scholars,  Tiele,  of 
Leyden:    "Can  dreams  have  given  rise  to  that  faith  which 

i  Cf.  Max  MUllee,  Theosophy,  or  Psychological  Religion  (Gifford  Lectures, 
1892),  pp.  7,  480. 


14  Barrows  Lectures 

has  proved  so  stupendous  a  power  in  the  world's  history, 
or  to  those  hopes  which  have  sustained  millions  of  our 
fellow-men  amidst  terrible  sufferings,  and  lightened  their 
eyes  in  the  agony  of  death  ?  Some  people  may  answer 
in  the  affirmative.  But  it  is  certainly  not  these  imagin- 
ings that  give  rise  to  religion.  The  process  is  the  very 
reverse.  It  is  man's  original,  unconscious,  innate  sense  of 
infinity  that  gives  rise  to  his  first  stammering  utterances  of 
that  sense,  and  to  all  his  beautiful  dreams  of  the  past  and 
the  future.  These  utterances  and  these  dreams  may  have 
long  since  passed  away,  but  the  sense  of  infinity  from 
which  they  proceed  remains  a  constant  quantity.  It  is 
inherent  in  the  human  soul.  It  lies  at  the  root  of  man's 
whole  spiritual  life."1 

This  view  of  the  origin  of  religion  compels  us  to 
advance  one  step  farther,  even  to  the  question:  Whence 
this  "original,  unconscious,  innate  sense  of  infinity"? 
Whence  this  yearning  after  God  which  we  share  in  com- 
mon, "whate'er  our  name  or  sign"?  Can  there  be  any 
answer  save  one  to  a  question  so  august?  Our  sense  of 
the  infinite  is  from  the  Infinite.  Our  yearning  for  God  is 
from  God,  His  Spirit  in  ourselves ;  for  we  are  His  offspring. 
As,  in  our  noblest  human  fellowships,  heart  answers  unto 
heart,  sensation  aud  emotion  travelling  along  the  lines  of  our 
common  humanity,  so,  in  our  involuntary  desires  toward 
Deity  (in  whatsoever  terms  we  may  define  our  conceptions 
of  Deity),  aspirations  and  yearnings  go  forth  upon  the 
currents  of  a  divine  life  within  ourselves,  inbreathed  from 
the  infinite  Source  of  life. 

These  are  the  grounds  upon  which  the  science  of  reli- 
gion may  be  said  to  rest ;  these  the  considerations  that,  for 
many  of  the  western  scholars,  have  added  to  its  academi- 

1  Cf.  Tiele,  Elements  of  the  Science  of  Religion,  Vol.  II,  p.  233. 


The  Nature  of  Religion  15 

cal  and  critical  interest  a  deep  reverence  and  a  most  human 
tenderness.  The  sense  of  the  unity  of  mankind  has  become 
a  positive  force,  tending  to  bridge  the  old  chasms  between 
nations.  The  conception  of  the  evolutionary  process  in 
history  has  broken  the  old  tyranny  of  bigotry  and  has 
gained  for  every  form  of  faith  the  right  seriously  to  be 
studied.  Above  all,  the  better  understanding  of  what 
religion  is  in  its  psychological  origin,  even  the  stirring 
within  the  heart  of  man  of  infinite  yearnings,  begotten 
in  him  through  the  Spirit  of  the  Infinite,  has  made  it  pos- 
sible for  the  adherents  of  faiths  that  once  fought  each 
other  with  the  sword  to  meet  in  affectionate  communion, 
and  to  examine,  without  bitterness  or  rivalry,  whatever,  to 
one  or  the  other,  may  seem  most  precious  for  himself  and 
most  helpful  for  his  brother-man. 

It  is  upon  these  grounds  that  I  invite  you  to  enter 
upon  the  study  of  a  religion,  and  to  do  this  in  the  modern 
spirit  and  from  the  modern  point  of  view.  If  the  scope 
and  the  spirit  of  the  Barrows  Lectureship  were  less  broad 
and  less  irenic  than  they  are  understood  to  be,  it  would 
not  cause  surprise  if  so  direct  an  invitation  to  study  the 
salient  points  of  the  Christian  religion  were  met  with 
coldness.  Nor  would  it  be  difficult  for  learned  Hindus 
to  defend  that  coldness  with  weighty  arguments.  For 
from  the  past,  from  the  present,  and  from  the  future 
emerge,  at  the  call  of  Hinduism,  arguments  that  appear 
to  justify  indifference,  if  not  hostility,  toward  the  religion 
which  bears  the  name  of  Christ. 

From  the  past  comes  the  argument  of  superior  antiq- 
uity. The  religion  of  the  New  Testament  is  relatively 
young,  as  it  stands  beneath  the  Syrian  sky  of  the  first 
century,  distrusted  and  despised  by  the  Judaism  from 
which  it  was  evolved  ;  ignored  by  the  Greek  and  the  Latin 


16  Barrows  Lectures 

culture  to  which,  soon  and  vitally,  it  was  to  be  related  ; 
unknown  and  undreamed  of  by  the  Aryan  faiths  of  India, 
which  even  then  were  hoary  with  age  and  opulent  with 
tradition.  In  the  biography  of  the  Founder  of  Christian- 
ity is  recorded  a  touching  episode  of  His  childhood.  His 
parents  had  brought  Him,  then  a  boy  of  twelve,  from  their 
home  in  the  northern  province,  Galilee,  to  Jerusalem,  in 
the  southern  province,  Judsea,  that  they  might  attend  the 
annual  religious  festival  of  the  Passover.  That  duty 
done,  they  joined  the  train  of  pilgrims  returning  to  the 
north,  only  to  find  that  their  son  was  missing.  Dis- 
tressed they  sought  Him  everywhere,  turning  back  to  the 
Holy  City.  And  there,  within  the  portico  of  the  temple, 
they  found  their  son,  His  slight  boyish  figure  the  centre 
of  a  group  of  venerable  doctors  of  the  law ;  His  guileless 
face  in  strange  contrast  with  the  grave  countenances  of 
those  who  heard,  astonished,  the  voice  of  wisdom  proceed- 
ing from  the  lips  of  infancy.  Even  so  stands  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  portico  of  history,  its  guileless 
youth  surrounded  by  the  older  faiths  of  mankind.  It 
bears  upon  itself  that  strange,  sweet  dignity  that 
sometimes  sits  upon  the  brow  of  childhood  ;  that  unblem- 
ished charm  of  purity,  that  unstudied  prescience  of 
destiny,  that  divine  intuition  of  wisdom.  It  attracts  the 
scrutiny,  even  though  it  fail  to  win  the  confidence,  of 
more  ancient  religions.  Yet  one  cannot  wonder  if  those 
ancient  faiths  withdraw  in  coldness  from  this  that  stands 
in  the  garments  of  youth  amid  the  solemn  shadows  of 
antiquity. 

From  the  present  comes  an  argument  even  more  potent 
to  justify  the  oriental  mind  in  cold  withdrawal  from  the 
study  of  Christianity.  It  is  the  argument  of  East  against 
West,  of  Asia  against  Europe  ;  it  is  the  strained  relations 


The  Nature  of  Religion  17 

of  oriental  institutions,  social,  civil,  religious,  political, 
the  offspring  of  immemorial  custom  and  tendency,  toward 
a  faith  that  has  rooted  itself  in  the  soil  of  western  life 
and  entwined  its  tendrils  around  western  usage,  senti- 
ment, and  belief,  until  it  has  become  identified  with  the 
West ;  and  any  attempt  to  commend  it  to  the  considera- 
tion of  Asiatic  minds  may  be  construed  as  an  effort  to 
exploit  a  product  of  western  civilisation.  The  nations  of 
the  West  for  the  most  part  have  embraced  Christianity. 
They  have  saturated  it  with  the  genius,  built  up  around 
it  the  institutions,  fastened  upon  it  the  local  names  and 
signs,  loaded  it  with  the  customs,  armed  it  with  the 
weapons,  of  the  western  world.  Europe  has  European- 
ised  the  religion  of  Christ,  until  he  who  looks  at  it  from 
the  outside  may  be  pardoned  for  failing  to  see  the  force 
of  its  claim  to  be  more  than  an  ethnic  cult.  Until  it  can  be 
shown  that  western  Christianity  is  but  a  local  adaptation 
of  that  which  in  essence  is  not  western,  nor  eastern,  but 
for  whomsoever  can  receive  it,  it  cannot  be  wondered  at 
that  an  oriental  to  whom  the  manners  and  spirit  of  the 
West  are  in  part  inexplicable,  in  part  irritating,  should 
say  coldly  to  Christianity  :  "What  have  I  to  do  with 
thee  ?" 

From  the  future  emerges,  at  the  call  of  Hinduism,  an 
argument  for  indifference  toward  the  faith  that  bears 
the  name  of  Christ.  It  is  the  assumption  that  the 
philosophical  basis  of  Christianity  and  the  philosophical 
basis  of  Hinduism  are  and  ever  must  remain  mutually 
subversive ;  that,  in  respect  of  the  fundamental  concep- 
tions of  God  and  the  soul,  the  Christian  and  the  disciples 
of  Hindu  philosophical  systems  never  can  approach  any 
common  standing-ground,  whereon  discussion  may 
become  intelligible.     It  is  assumed  that,  in  the  nature  of 


18  Bai*roivs  Lectures 

the  case,  a  basis  for  mutuality  and  fraternal  contempla- 
tion of  Christian  ideas  is  unattainable  ;  that  the  categories 
of  thought  are  unrelated ;  that  those  ideas  which  are  most 
ultimate  and  fixed  in  the  philosophy  of  Christianity  are 
precisely  the  ones  which  in  the  philosophy  of  the  Ved- 
antist,  for  example,  ever  must  be  most  thoroughly  dis- 
approved and  rejected  ;  that  the  terms  in  which  self  thinks 
of  self  within  the  lines  of  the  most  serious  Christian  phi- 
losophy ever  must  be  more  empty  than  the  vacant  air, 
more  meaningless  than  the  chatter  of  birds  in  the  ear  of 
him  who  is  Brahma. 

Believe  me  that  I  do  not  underestimate  the  gravity  of 
these  considerations,  each  one  of  which  gives  rise  to 
serious  reflections.  It  is  true  that  Christianity,  among 
the  religious  systems  that  have  controlled  large  sections 
of  the  human  race,  is  the  youngest  of  all,  Mohammedan- 
ism alone  being  excepted.  It  is  true  that  the  thought 
and  life  of  the  West,  having  adopted  the  religion  of 
Christ  from  a  very  early  date,  have  developed  local  adap- 
tations of  its  belief  and  its  practices  that  are  essentially 
western  ;  adaptations  that  have  so  modified  Christianity, 
stamping  it  with  the  European  hall-mark,  as  to  make  it 
difficult  for  the  oriental  mind  to  realise  that  the  historic 
origin  of  Christianity  is  Asiatic  and  not  European.  It  is 
true  that  the  philosophical  basis  of  Hinduism,  its  deepest 
presupposition  concerning  each  of  the  three  germinal 
conceptions,  God,  the  World  and  Self,  appears  to  be 
wholly  incompatible  with  and  wholly  subversive  of  the 
corresponding  conception  as  set  forth  in  the  popular  and 
conventional  presentations  of  the  Christian  religion. 
These  are  very  serious  considerations.  And  I  can  con- 
ceive that,  under  certain  circumstances,  these  considera- 
tions might  suffice  to  close  the    ear   of   eastern  culture 


The  Nature  of  Religion  19 

against  Christian  argument,  and  to  avert  the  oriental  face 
in  cold  disdain  from  one  offering  those  arguments. 

But  I  apprehend  no  such  unfavourable  issue  under  the 
present  circumstances.  And  this  for  reasons  political, 
religious,  personal.  I  come,  not  as  a  European,  but  as  an 
American.  Even  as  the  faith  in  which  I  am  a  believer 
stands  among  the  older  faiths  of  mankind  as  the  fair  young 
Christ  among  the  venerable  doctors  in  the  temple,  so 
stands  the  nation  that  I  represent,  in  the  freshness  of  its 
happy  youth,  among  the  elder  and  more  heavily  encum- 
bered nations  of  the  world;  and  I  think  that  I  may  affirm 
the  relations  of  America  to  India  to  have  been  never 
political,  never  governmental;  always  fraternal,  sympa- 
thetic, respectful.  Again,  I  come  not  as  a  churchman, 
representing  any  one  of  the  ecclesiastical  divisions  of 
Christendom,  or  seeking  to  promote  the  advance  of  some 
western  modification  of  the  Christian  idea,  in  authority 
and  influence  over  Indian  life.  I  come  as  the  represen- 
tative of  a  University  that,  itself  a  seeker  after  truth,  hon- 
ours all  engaged  in  that  quest,  and  that  conceives  nothing 
to  be  more  worthy  of  intelligent  minds  than  dispassionate 
comparison  of  ideas  touching  the  highest  of  all  subjects, 
the  profoundest  of  all  mysteries — God,  the  World,  and  the 
Soul.  Finally,  I  come  not  with  the  presumptuous  belief 
that  you  are  unacquainted  with  the  main  positions  of  my 
religion.  I  do  not  forget  that  India  is  the  age-long  home 
of  religious  study,  and  that  Christianity  in  some  of  its 
forms  was  known  in  India  before  the  discovery  of  America. 
Nor  do  I  come  as  a  controversialist,  eager  to  assail  the 
beliefs  of  others  and  to  plant  the  standard  of  conquest 
upon  their  ruins.  Farther  than  East  from  West  is  the 
ambition  of  controversy  from  my  heart.  I  come  in  the 
spirit  of  peace,  of  gentleness,  of  humility,  to  tell  you  what 


20  Barrows  Lectures 

the  religion  of  Christ  means  to  one  of  the  humblest  of  his 
disciples;  to  point  out  to  you  what  that  religion  is,  in  its 
pure,  unadulterated  essence,  whensoever  one  will  venture 
past  the  barriers  of  custom,  of  conventionality,  of  dogmatic 
controversy,  which  have  been  built  up  by  human  authority 
or  human  prejudice,  and  walk  with  Christ,  the  eternal  Son 
of  the  Father,  in  the  calm,  sweet  garden  of  His  own  truth. 

My  chief  ambition  is  that,  by  the  exercise  of  mutual 
confidence  and  through  the  medium  of  intellectual  fellow- 
ship, we  shall  lift  this  discussion  to  a  high  level;  even  to 
a  plane  where  we  can  examine  Christianity  upon  its  merits 
and  view  it  in  its  essence,  undisturbed  by  those  historic 
modifications  and  those  local  side  issues  which  have  opened, 
in  West  and  East  alike,  questions  painful,  perplexing,  and 
unprofitable. 

If  this  end  is  to  be  reached,  even  the  calm,  intelligent 
discussion  of  some  leading  principles  of  Christian  belief,  a 
certain  mental  attitude  is  desirable  on  the  part,  not  only  of 
the  lecturer,  but  of  those  to  whom  he  speaks.  With  con- 
fiding frankness  the  lecturer  already  has  disclosed  his  own 
mental  attitude.  He  has  pointed  out  that  it  is  non-contro- 
versial, irenic,  full  of  respect  for  the  convictions  of  those 
whom  he  addresses.  May  he  be  permitted  now  to  describe 
what,  in  his  judgment,  should  be  the  mental  attitude  of 
those  who,  trained  under  other  systems  of  belief  and  hold- 
ing with  more  or  less  tenacity  to  those  systems,  do  yet 
recognise,  as  persons  of  intelligence,  that  the  Christian 
religion  is  a  considerable  factor  in  the  world's  history, 
and  do  desire,  from  an  intellectual  point  of  view,  to  per- 
ceive more  clearly  what  there  is  in  Christianity  that  has 
won  not  only  the  assent,  but  the  passionate  devotion,  of 
many  individuals  of  undoubted  spiritual  and  philosophical 
power. 


The  Nature  of  Religion  21 

There  may,  with  reason,  be  asked  of  those  oriental 
hearers  who  would  lift  this  discussion  to  that  high  level 
where  Christianity  may  be  considered  upon  its  merits,  a 
mental  attitude  that  shall  consist  chiefly  in  three  under- 
takings; namely,  an  intellectual  elimination,  an  historical 
retrospect,  a  philosophical  adjustment.  With  a  brief  yet 
careful  setting  forth  of  these  elements  of  a  desirable  men- 
tal attitude  for  the  study  of  Christianity  I  shall  beg  leave 
to  close  my  first,  and  introductory,  lecture. 

For  the  eastern  student  of  religion  who  consents  to  exam- 
ine Christianity  upon  its  merits,  it  is  essential  that  he  make 
certain  intellectual  eliminations;  that  is  to  say,  he  must 
expel  from  his  mind  and  dismiss  from  his  religious  prob- 
lem certain  considerations  that  are  wont  to  insinuate  them- 
selves into  all  oriental  study  of  the  Christian  religion  and 
to  vitiate  the  conclusions  of  the  student.  These  considera- 
tions are  political — the  entanglement  of  Christianity  with 
civil  and  military  powers  of  government;  ecclesiastical — 
the  entanglement  of  Christianity  with  the  sectarian  dis- 
putes of  Christians ;  ethical  —  the  entanglement  of  Chris- 
tianity with  the  moral  unworthiness  of  many  of  its  nomi- 
nal representatives.  For  purposes  of  investigation  into 
the  essence  of  the  Christian  religion  these  intellectual 
eliminations  are  necessary. 

To  the  student  of  history  it  is  obvious  that  the  civil 
and  military  systems  of  so-called  Christian  nations  must 
not  be  confused  with  the  spiritual  content  of  that  religion 
whose  most  holy  precepts  and  most  commanding  ideals 
often  have  been  set  aside  or  profaned  by  the  pride,  or  the 
ambition,  or  the  greed  of  governing  powers.  When  the 
sacred  Person  of  Christ  appeared  on  earth,  He  stood  alone 
in  the  midst  of  civil  and  military  powers;  identified  with 
none,  despised  by  some,  superior  to  all.     Around  Him  He 


22  Barrows  Lectures 

gathered  a  group  of  apostles,  spirits  kindred  with  His  own 
—  a  little  flock,  as  sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves.  For  the 
early  centuries  of  the  Christian  religion  there  was  in  store 
only  persecution  at  the  hands  of  the  state.  The  disciples 
of  Christ,  like  their  Master,  who  Himself  was  put  to  death 
by  the  act  of  military  government,  had  not  where  to  lay 
their  heads.  They  were  accounted  as  the  offscouring  of 
the  earth.  It  was  not  until  the  fourth  century  that  an 
imperial  hand  conferred  upon  Christianity  the  doubtful 
boon  of  royal  favour,  spread  over  it  the  pallium  of  august 
protection,  made  it  a  religion  of  the  state,  and  opened 
those  long,  complex,  and  conflicting  annals  of  European 
history  wherein  governments  have  warred  against  one 
another  in  the  common  name  of  Christ,  and  have  invoked 
that  name  to  adorn  the  beneficent  policies  of  civilisation 
or  to  justify  the  stern  necessities  of  conquest. 

But  the  relation  of  civil  and  military  government  to 
Christianity,  whether  just  or  unjust,  admirable  or  despi- 
cable, is  an  irrelevant  matter  for  him  who,  as  a  student  of 
religion,  passing  far  within  the  sanctuary  of  meditation, 
contemplates  the  essential  sacrednesa  of  that  on  which  the 
unhallowed  hand  of  worldly  power  has  fallen.  He  forgets, 
he  eliminates  from  the  mind,  the  efforts  of  ambition  to 
make  use  of  Christianity  for  it's  own  selfish  ends.  He 
passes  by  thrones  and  republics,  senates  and  armies, 
tyrannies  and  revenges,  marking  the  tortuous  course  of 
history  in  the  West;  he  averts  the  mind  from  the  thunder 
of  battle,  and  the  cries  of  the  dying,  and  the  garments  of 
the  warrior  rolled  in  blood,  on  fields  where  sword  crossed 
sword  in  the  name  of  Him  who  was  called  the  Prince  of 
Peace;  he  leaves  the  trampled  fields  of  Europe  for  Euro- 
peans to  explore;  and  in  the  olive  groves  of  Palestine  he 
questions    Him   at  whose  cradle  the  eastern  sages  wor- 


The  Nature  of  Religion  23 

shipped,  but  through  whose  broken  heart  the  Roman 
thrust  a  spear:  What  meanest  Thou,  O  Teacher,  when 
Thou  say  est:  I  am  the  Light  of  the  world:  He  that  fol- 
loweth  Me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the 
light  of  life? 

There  is  also  an  ecclesiastical  elimination  to  be  made 
by  the  eastern  student  of  religion,  who  consents  to  examine 
Christianity  upon  its  merits.  Christianity  must  be  dis- 
entangled from  the  sectarian  disputes  of  Christians.  That 
great  religions  give  rise  to  great  discussions  is  a  truth  that 
exalts,  not  discredits,  the  dignity  of  human  beliefs.  A 
religion  whose  leading  ideas  were  so  axiomatic  as  to 
arouse  no  discussion  would  be  discredited  by  its  own  pet- 
tiness. The  various  philosophical  schools  of  Hinduism, 
the  sects  of  Islam,  are  intellectual  evidences  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  ideas  under  consideration.  That  Christianity 
both  in  the  Eastern  Church  and  in  the  Western  Church 
should  chart  its  painful  course  by  controversial  land- 
marks, and  should  complicate  its  original  simplicity  with 
sectarian  subdivisions,  was  a  psychological  necessity  com- 
mon to  great  religions.  Whether  the  net  result  of  these 
subdivisions  has  been  wholesome  for  western  Christianity 
is  an  open  question.  Some  deplore  them  openly,  inter- 
preting catholicity  as  uniformity,  denouncing  each  great 
division  that  has  occurred  in  the  ecclesiastical  evolution 
of  Europe  as  a  sinful  defection  from  the  primitive  truth, 
persistence  in  which  state  of  separation  is  held  to  be  per- 
petual injury  to  the  good  name  of  Christ's  religion. 
Others  view  the  matter  differently,  agreeing  more  or  less 
closely  with  one  who  lately  has  said:1  "The  formation  of 
sects  within  a  religion,  while  in  one  sense  a  disintegrating 
process,  is,  in  another,  a  manifestation  of  vitality  and  of 

1  Jasteow,  The  Study  of  Religion,  p.  61. 


24  Barrows  Lectures 

healthful  growth,  quite  as  much  as  the  growth  of  a  city  is 
indicated  by  the  opening  up  of  new  streets  and  byways. 
A  religion  without  sects  is  necessarily  limited  in  its  range ; 
and  so  long  as  racial  differences  among  nations  exist,  with 
variations  in  temperament,  the  same  religion  in  various  geo- 
graphical centres  is  bound  to  take  on  various  forms."  But 
the  oriental  in  quest  of  the  essential  ideas  of  Christianity 
need  not  concern  himself  with  controversies  that  divide 
the  West,  save  as  those  controversies  attest  the  vitality  of 
religious  thought  in  Europe,  and  prove  that  a  religion 
cradled  on  Asiatic  soil  and  nurtured  by  Semitic  influences 
has  had  power  for  two  thousand  years  to  affect  aod  to  agi- 
tate down  to  its  foundations  the  entire  structure  of  Aryan 
life  throughout  the  western  hemisphere.  Should  Chris- 
tianity ever  attract  India  as  it  has  attracted  Europe,  the 
inherent  immensity  of  its  conceptions  will  evolve  contro- 
versies suited  to  the  eastern  points  of  view;  and  will  dis- 
turb Asiatic  society  with  that  majestic  unrest  which,  like 
the  heaving  of  the  ocean,  reveals  the  greatness  of  the  dis- 
turbing power.  The  restless  movements  of  religious  con- 
troversy, like  the  swaying  branches  of  the  forest,  announce 
the  presence  of  a  mighty  force  pressing  upon  them.  He 
who  would  know  the  essence  of  Christianity  must  forget 
the  swaying  branches  of  controversy,  and  ask  of  the  view- 
less wind  that  moves  them :  Whence  art  thou,  O  wind  of 
God,  and  whither  dost  thou  go  ? 

Beyond  the  political  elimination  which  disentangles 
Christianity  from  civil  and  military  governments,  and 
beyond  the  ecclesiastical  elimination  which  extricates  the 
essence  of  religion  from  the  discussions  and  disputes  that 
arise  about  it,  the  eastern  student  of  the  faith  of  Christ 
must  make  also  an  ethical  elimination,  separating  Chris- 
tianity from  the  moral  un worthiness  of  some  of  its  nominal 


The  Nature  of  Religion  25 

representatives.  Often  has  it  been  said  that  the  Christian 
religion  has  suffered  more  at  the  hands  of  its  professed 
followers  than  at  the  hands  of  its  avowed  enemies.  In  a 
sense  that  is  true.  Christ  was  betrayed  by  one  of  His  own 
disciples;  and  from  that  time  onward  His  religion  has  been 
subject  to  misrepresentation  through  the  folly,  the  care- 
lessness, the  selfishness,  or  the  baseness  of  those  who,  con- 
ventionally, were  related  to  His  cause.  But  to  refuse  to 
study  the  essential  content  of  the  religion  of  Christ 
because  one,  nominally  His  disciple,  had  shown  moral 
unworthiness,  is  like  refusing  to  make  use  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver because  a  base  counterfeit  coin  has  been  thrust  upon 
one  by  fraud.  The  philosophical  method  is  to  ignore  the 
ethical  deformity  that  garbs  itself  in  the  garment  of  reli- 
gion ;  to  press  past  the  feebleness,  the  distortion,  the  pov- 
erty of  ideal,  the  earthbound  sordidness,  the  hypocritical 
profession,  the  vapid  formalism,  that  obstruct  like  weeds 
and  underbrush  the  approaches  to  the  Heavenly  Mount; 
and  to  climb  to  that  high  level  where,  transfigured  in  love 
and  light,  He  stands  who  is  the  brightness  of  the  Father's 
glory  and  the  express  image  of  His  Person.  Judge  Chris- 
tianity not  by  the  poor  and  perishable  types  that  profess 
connection  with  it  and  belie  its  spirit.  Judge  Christianity 
by  Christ,  its  incarnate  Archetype,  and  by  those  rarest  souls 
who,  greater  than  all  the  churchly  names  they  bore,  have 
possessed  His  spirit,  have  followed  in  His  train.  And  why  ? 
Because  Christ  is  not  European  and  Christianity  is  no 
product  of  the  West.  The  West  is  seeking,  indeed,  to 
comprehend  it ;  the  West  is  climbing,  though  with  piteous 
stumblings  and  fallings  back,  toward  the  Heavenly  Mount. 
But  Christ  towers  above  European  civilisation  as  the 
highest  peak  of  the  Himalayas  towers  above  the  cities  of 
the  river  plains ;  a  white  Perfection  that  rivets  the  eyes  of 
the  world ;  a  bright  Epiphany  of  perfect  love. 


26  Barrows  Lectures 

Such  is  the  threefold  intellectual  elimination  which 
should  be  made  by  each  oriental  mind  that  may  desire  to 
examine  Christianity  upon  its  merits;  the  essence  of  the 
religion  must  be  disentangled  from  the  acts  of  civil  and 
military  governments  adopting  the  official  name  of  Chris- 
tian, from  the  inevitable  controversies  that  follow  in  the 
train  of  all  germinal  ideas,  and  from  the  unworthiness  of 
those  whose  nominal  connection  with  Christianity  has 
been  one  of  its  most  stubborn  embarrassments. 

In  addition  to  this  intellectual  elimination,  he  who,  as 
an  oriental,  would  acquire  the  mental  attitude  suited  to 
the  contemplation  of  Christianity,  must  seek  to  attain  it 
by  a  certain  historical  retrospect.  It  is  related  in  one  of 
the  gospels  that  a  certain  man  "sought  to  see  Jesus  who  He 
was,  and  could  not  for  the  crowd."  Unwilling  to  be 
baffled,  he  climbed  into  a  tree  and  gained,  over  all  inter- 
vening obstructions,  clear  vision  of  the  face  of  Christ. 
Like  him  must  the  eastern  student  of  religion,  who  would 
see  Christianity  in  its  essence,  elevate  himself  above  the 
crowd  of  intervening  objects  and  look  back  upon  its  his- 
toric evolution,  as  it  relates  itself  to  the  genealogy  of  races. 
It  is  impracticable,  under  the  time  limitations  of  these 
lectures,  to  enter  the  wide,  alluring  field  of  research 
connected  with  the  origin  of  races.  But  it  is  equally 
impossible  to  advert,  however  briefly,  to  the  historical 
antecedents  of  Christianity  without  mentioning  two  race- 
names  that  stand  related  thereto,  mysteriously,  in  the 
annals  of  thought — the  Aryan  and  the  Semite.  The  Aryan, 
when  all  modifications  of  time,  separation,  and  race- 
absorption  are  taken  into  account,  yet  remains  the  com- 
mon ancestor  of  Indian  and  European.  To  be  reminded 
of  that  common  ancestry  may  or  may  not  be  agreeable  to 
modern  Hindus.     For  myself,  as  a  man  of  Aryan  blood,  I 


The  Nature  of  Religion  27 

welcome  whatever  assures  to  me  the  honour  of  kinship 
with  India.  Nevertheless,  it  is  fanciful  and  speculative 
to  press  too  strongly  the  identity  of  Indo-European  peoples 
today,  even  though  Ihering  be  right  when  he  says:  "The 
Hindu  and  the  European  of  today  differ  greatly,  and  yet 
they  are  children  of  one  and  the  same  mother,  twin  brothers 
who  originally  were  exactly  alike." '  Where  was  the  cradle 
of  our  common  ancestry,  is  a  problem  that  forever  fasci- 
nates and  forever  may  elude  the  search  of  those  to  whom 
the  secrets  of  the  past  are  precious.  Site  after  site  has 
been  affirmed,  only  to  be  denied  by  later  students.  The 
theory  of  central  Asia2  as  the  primitive  home  has  given 
place,  under  the  pressure  of  results  in  the  study  of  lan- 
guage and  culture,  to  the  theory  of  the  steppes  of  eastern 
Europe ;  yet  even  those  most  devoted  to  the  quest  speak 
cautiously  of  those  results.  ' '  How  the  proposed  hypothesis,' ' 
says  Schrader,  "as  to  the  original  home  of  the  Indo- 
European  will  be  affected  by  anthropology,  when  its  results 
have  been  sifted  as  we  may  expect  them  to  be ;  how  it  will 
be  affected  by  the  discovery  of  the  prehistoric  remains, 
when  the  treasures  concealed  in  the  soil  of  south  Russia 
have  been  fully  brought  to  light  and  thoroughly  examined, 
remains  to  be  seen."3  Nevertheless,  though  the  place  of 
the  cradle  be  obscured  amidst  the  mists  of  antiquity,  the 
diverging  paths  of  the  children  issuing  therefrom  still 
may  be  traced.  Eastward,  to  some  second  home  where 
evolved  the  splendid  life  and  literature  of  primitive  Hin- 
duism and  Zoroastrianism,  proceeded  the  Indo-Iranian 
branches  of  the  Aryan  stock,  to  divide  again,  and  pass, 

i  Rudolph  von  Ihering,  Evolution  of  the  Aryan. {'English,  translation,  1897), 
Introduction,  p.  20. 

a  Cf.  M.  MCllee's  Lectures,  Vol.  I,  pp.  239  ff. ;  Satce,  Principles,  pp.  101  and 
many  others. 

%Cf.  O.  Scheadee,  Sprachvergleichung  und  Urgeschichte  (Jena,  1883) ;  Eng- 
lish title,  Prehistoric  Antiquities  of  the  Aryan  Peoples  (London,  1890),  p.  443. 


28  Barrows  Lectures 

one  of  them  as  a  nation  of  shepherds  and  sun-worshippers 
to  the  mountain  ranges  of  Persia,  the  other  as  a  nation 
of  poets  and  philosophers,  epic-bearers  and  conquerors, 
through  the  passes  of  the  Northwest  Hills  into  the  illimit- 
able plains  and  plateaux  of  Hindustan.  Westward, 
toward  the  Carpathians,  the  Danube,  and  the  sea,  to  their 
second  home  upon  the  priceless  black  earth  where  now 
wave  the  richest  grain  fields  of  Europe1  proceeded  the 
forerunners  of  Greek  and  Latin,  Teuton,  Celt,  and  Slav, 
to  evolve  their  characteristic  types  of  culture,  and  to 
break  again  into  groups  that  wandered  and  settled  from 
the  North  Sea  to  the  Mediterranean. 

But  not  from  the  eastern  branch  and  not  from  the 
western  branch  sprang  that  faith  which  bears  the  name 
and  superscription  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  ancient 
Hebrew  book  of  Job  occurs  a  passage  describing  the 
search  for  the  origin  of  wisdom.  "Where  shall  wisdom 
be  found,  and  where  is  the  place  of  understanding  ?  The 
depth  saith,  It  is  not  in  me ;  and  the  sea  saith,  It  is  not  in 
me."  So  shall  he  be  answered  who  seeks  the  genesis  of 
Christianity  amidst  the  traditions  of  the  Aryan  race. 
From  India,  the  breeding-ground  of  mighty  faiths,  returns 
the  answer:  "  It  is  not  in  me."  From  Europe,  the  fertile 
home  of  western  culture,  comes  the  echo :  "  It  is  not  with 
me."  If,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Indian  refuses  to  be 
responsible  for  a  religion  whose  philosophical  basis 
appears  to  violate  every  canon  of  his  thought;  on  the 
other  hand,  the  European  who  owes  to  that  religion  all 
that  makes  his  civilisation  substantial,  his  culture  pro- 
gressive, his  life  worth  living,  cannot  claim  the  honour  of 
reckoning  among  his  ancestral  distinctions  the  genesis  of 
Christianity  from  the  Aryan  stock. 

1  Cf.  Schbadee,  op.  cit.,  p.  432. 


The  Nature  of  Religion  29 

Like  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  emer- 
ging from  scenes  as  far  from  the  civilisation  of  Europe  as 
from  the  thought  of  India,  comes  the  message  of  Chris- 
tianity, borne  by  that  mysterious  branch  of  another  race, 
the  Jews  of  Palestine,  at  once  the  most  distinguished  and 
the  most  afflicted  members  of  the  Semitic  family.  Far 
different  from  the  primitive  home  of  the  Aryans  was  that 
which  the  predominant  opinion  of  modern  scholars1  desig- 
nates as  the  starting-point  of  the  race  that  in  its  southern 
branches  retained  and  still  retains  marks  of  the  stern 
exclusiveness  implanted  within  it  by  the  peculiar  condi- 
tions of  desert  life.2 

If  the  Arabian  desert  be  the  cradle  of  the  Semites,  we 
find  in  the  austerity  of  its  seclusion  the  clue  to  the  ethnic 
loneliness,  and  also  to  the  inclination  toward  an  awe- 
inspiring  monotheism,  that  grew  with  the  growth  of  that 
sublimest  offspring  of  the  Semitic  stock,  the  Hebrew 
nation.  Well  has  it  been  said  by  my  distinguished  prede- 
cessor in  the  Barrows  Lectureship,  Principal  Fairbairn 
of  Mansfield  College :  "  The  Hebrews  may  stand  as  the 
highest  example  of  the  Semitic  religious  genius,  espe- 
cially in  its  creative  form.  They  were  as  a  nation  always 
insignificant,  indeed  almost  politically  impotent.  Their 
country  was  small,  little  larger  at  its  best  than  a  fourth 
of  England.  Their  history  was  a  perpetual  struggle  for 
national  existence.  Egypt,  Chaldea,  Assyria,  Persia, 
Greece,  Rome  were  successively  either  their  masters  or 
protectors,  and  their  often  threatened  national  existence 
was  at  last  trampled  out  by  the  legions  of  Titus  and 
Hadrian,  and  themselves  sent  to  wander  over  the  earth  as 
a  strange  example  of  a   destroyed  nation,  but  an  inde- 

1  Cf.  W.  Robertson  Smith,  The  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  10. 
*Cf.  G.  A.  Baeton,  A  Sketch  of  Semitic  Origins  (1902),  p.  28. 


30  Barrows  Lectures 

structible  people.  Without  the  commercial  or  colonising 
energy  of  their  Phoenician  kinsmen ;  without  the  archi- 
tectural genius  and  patient  industry  which  built  the 
monuments  and  cities  of  Egypt ;  without  the  ambition 
and  courage  which  raised  their  Assyrian  brethren  to 
empire  and  a  sovereign  civilisation;  without  the  poetic 
and  speculative  genius  of  the  Greeks  ;  without  the  martial 
and  political  capacity  of  the  Romans,  the  politically  unim- 
portant and  despised  Hebrews  have  excelled  these  gifted 
nations,  singly  and  combined,  in  religious  faculty  and  in 
the  power  exercised  through  religion  on  mankind,"1 

In  the  light  of  this  historical  retrospect  it  is  obvious 
that  the  oriental  who  would  see  the  essence  of  Christianity 
must  elevate  himself  above  the  intervening  structures  of 
European  ecclesiasticism  and  dogmatism  that  crowd  the 
foreground  and  interrupt  the  view.  He  must  look  to 
another  race  than  that  whence  himself  and  the  European 
sprang ;  he  must  rid  his  mind  of  the  irritating  thought 
that  some  crude  theological  product  of  the  modern  "West 
is  being  offered  in  competition  with  the  venerable  unfold- 
ings  of  Brahmanism.  He  must  look  to  Asia,  the  land  of 
his  own  origin.  He  must  look  to  the  Semite,  an  ancestry 
as  ancient  as  his  own,  to  discern  the  source  whence  came 
those  conceptions  of  God,  the  world,  and  the  soul  which, 
ascending  through  the  various  stages  in  the  evolution  of 
Hebrew  thought,  find  expression,  interpretation,  verifica- 
tion, and  completion  in  Christ. 

And  yet,  though  I  remind  you  that  the  antecedents  of 
Christianity  are  Semitic,  as  an  Aryan  myself  I  would 
not  have  you  think  of  Christianity  as  the  mere  outcome 
and  conclusion  of  Judaism.  A  much  broader  view  should 
be  taken.      While,  on  the  one  hand  Christianity  is  no 

lCf.  A.  M.  Faiebaibn,  Studies  in  the  Philosophy  of  Religion  and  History 
(1876). 


The  Nature  of  Religion  31 

suddenly  conceived  system,  no  unpremeditated  religion, 
but  "the  ripe  fruit  of  the  historical  development  of 
humanity,  and  especially  of  the  people  of  Israel,"1  it  is 
utterly  impossible  to  explain  the  scope  and  range  of  lead- 
ing Christian  ideas  by  limiting  our  account  of  the  genesis 
of  Christianity  to  its  Jewish  inheritance.  For,  as  our 
study  of  those  ideas  advances,  I  shall  hope  to  show  you 
that  the  essence  of  Christianity  embodies,  unifies,  and 
co-ordinates,  with  conceptions  that  are  evolved  from 
Judaism,  other  conceptions  that  are  most  dear  to  Aryan 
minds,  and  most  essential  to  the  Aryan  intuition  of  the 
nature  of  God.2 

I  shall  try  to  show  you  that  all  of  these  ideas — those 
that  come  of  the  lineage  of  Semitic  thought,  those  that 
are  as  the  very  breath  of  life  to  the  Aryan  self -conscious- 
ness—  meet  and  mingle  in  Christ.  I  shall  try  to  show 
you  upon  what  grounds  I  believe  that  Christ  is  universal  ; 
appearing,  indeed,  as  the  Child  of  a  Semitic  mother,  and 
the  fruition  of  a  Semitic  hope,  but  revealing,  in  His  high 
prerogative  of  Divine  Sonship,  truth  larger  than  Jew  could 
comprehend,  truth  that  in  its  immensity  of  scope,  its 
reconciling  power,  its  infinite  adaptation  to  human 
requirements  is  only  now,  at  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth 
century,  beginning  to  be  realised,  even  by  its  hereditary 
champions. 

I  beg  leave  to  close  this  lecture  by  calling  your  atten- 
tion to  the  third  and  final  element  in  the  mental  attitude 
of  the  cultured  oriental  who  would  examine  the  essence  of 
Christian  belief.  I  have  adverted  to  the  intellectual  elimi- 
nations that  should  be  made,  touching  matters  associated 
with  Christianity,  yet  irrelevant  thereto ;  I  have  pointed 

1  Cf.  Pfleidebee,  Philosophy  and  Development  of  Religion  (1894) ,  Vol.  II,  p.  38. 

2  Cf.  Tiele,  Elements  of  the  Science  of  Religion,  Vol.  I,  pp.  150-81 ;  cf.  Buddb, 
Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile,  p.  218. 


32  Barrows  Lectures 

out  the  historical  retrospect  whereby  the  Semitic  origin 
of  this  faith  is  seen.  I  would  speak  in  closing  of  the 
philosophical  adjustment  that  should  be  undertaken  by  all 
orientals,  and  especially  by  Hindus,  who  may  be  inter- 
ested in  the  study  of  Christianity  sufficiently  to  wish  to 
know  what  inspirations  it  offers,  what  consolations  it 
affords,  to  minds  that  certainly  cannot  be  called  super- 
stitious, bigoted,  or  ignorant. 

It  is  after  reflection  that  I  use  the  expression  "philo- 
sophical adjustment."  By  no  means  would  I  use  the  words 
philosophical  surrender.  Such  an  expression,  under  the 
circumstances,  would  appear  to  be  particularly  infelicitous, 
if  not  offensive.  It  would  imply,  on  the  one  hand,  that  I 
have  the  rashness  to  ask  minds  that  have  inherited 
thousands  of  years  of  philosophical  reflection  upon  the 
problems  of  the  universe,  and  that  have  confronted  those 
problems  in  a  certain  attitude,  to  surrender  that  inherit- 
ance and  to  abandon  that  attitude.  I  trust  that  I  am 
incapable  of  such  rashness  and  that  I  am  above  the  unin- 
telligence  that  could  deem  it  possible  for  serious  minds  to 
shift,  at  will,  the  deep  foundations  of  thought. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  to  ask  of  you  philosophical 
surrender  would  seem  to  imply  that  I  look  upon  Chris- 
tianity as  the  product  of  western  philosophy,  and  that  in 
order  to  comprehend  Christianity,  the  learned  East  must 
stultify  itself  and  trample  its  traditions  in  the  dust.  To 
admit  this  on  my  part  would  be  to  abandon  the  deepest 
and  dearest  interest  that  brings  me  to  India.  I  come  to 
India  because  I  believe  that  Christianity  is  not  the  prod- 
uct of  western  philosophy,  but  is  something  greater  and 
far  more  important.  I  come  to  India  because  I  believe 
that  some  of  your  purest  and  loftiest  philosophical  pre- 
suppositions and  some  of  the  purest  and  loftiest  philo- 


The  Nature  of  Religion  33 

sophical  pre-suppositions  of  the  West  are  like  two  mighty 
rivers  bending  toward  one  another  from  the  eternal  hills 
in  which  are  the  springs  of  both,  rivers  that  may- 
meet,  converge,  and  flow  onward,  in  one  broader  channel 
toward  the  sea. 

Therefore  what  I  suggest  is  not  philosophical  sur- 
render, but  philosophical  adjustment.  The  connotation 
of  this  term  may  be  shown  by  an  illustration.  Many 
years  ago  an  English  novelist,  writing  on  the  labour 
question,  and  desiring  to  promote  among  possessors  of 
capital  a  better  understanding  of  the  point  of  view  of 
champions  of  labour,  gave  to  his  book  the  title :  Put 
Yourself  in  His  Place.  The  phrase  serves  my  purpose 
as  suggesting  in  the  present  connection  a  philosophical 
attitude.  The  Indian  philosophy,  having  evolved  along 
a  course  uninfluenced  by  West  Asian  and  European 
thought,1  naturally  assumes  that  it  has  nothing  in  common 
with  the  philosophical  postulates  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Its  chance  contacts  with  those  who  speak  the  message  of 
Christianity  without  reference  to  its  philosophical  postu- 
lates may  confirm  the  assumption  that  this  great  faith 
of  the  West,  with  its  accent  on  objective  personality,  and 
reality  of  conduct,  and  the  value  of  experience,  is  as  the 
sounding  brass  and  the  tinkling  cymbal  to  minds  con- 
secrated to  the  majestic  idealism  of  the  Upanishads, 
and  to  the  swallowing  up  of  merit  and  demerit  in  that 
transcendent  knowledge  which  reveals  to  the  enlightened 
the  fundamental  identity  of  the  individual  soul  with  the 
highest  Brahma.2 

This  attitude  of  intellectual  disdain,  however  natural, 
precludes  the  possibility  of  an  intelligible  discussion  of 

1  Cf.  Deussen,  "  Outlines  of  Indian  Philosophy,"  Indian  Antiquary  (Decem- 
ber, 1900),  Parts  I  and  II. 

2  Cf.  Thibaut,  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  Vol.  XXXIX,  Introduction,  pp. 
xxiv-xxvii. 


34  Barrows  Lectures 

Christianity.  There  remains  no  basis  on  which  to  found 
such  discussion.  There  are  no  common  terms  that  may 
be  employed  for  the  exchange  of  ideas. 

My  suggestion,  therefore,  is  philosophical  adjustment 
of  the  kind  indicated  by  the  felicitous  title  of  the 
English  novel,  Put  Yourself  in  His  Place.  Such  adjust- 
ment should  be  mutual.  The  mind  that  inherits  the 
complex  European  philosophy,  to  the  development  of 
which  Semitic,  Zoroastrian,  and  Grecian  forces  have  con- 
tributed,1 ought  to  put  itself  in  sympathetic  relation  with 
the  germinal  thoughts  of  the  Vedanta-Sutras.  The  mind 
that  has  gained  its  training  and  its  point  of  view 
altogether  from  oriental  sources  should  turn  itself  without 
prejudice  to  the  exponent  of  Christianity,  with  sincere 
disposition  to  know  what  he  means  and  whereon  he 
founds  his  meaning. 

Such  philosophical  adjustment  in  our  present  dis- 
cussion I  suggest  in  a  loving  and  respectful  spirit.  It  is 
to  be  commended  to  the  thoughtful  on  many  grounds, 
but  especially  on  these  grounds : 

It  involves  no  stultifying  surrender  of  one's  intel- 
lectual inheritances.  He  who  thus  puts  himself  philo- 
sophically in  the  place  of  another,  representing  a  foreign 
school  of  thought,  commits  no  treachery  against  his 
religious  or  scholastic  ancestry ;  shows  no  base  ingratitude 
toward  departed  seers  who,  loving  their  race  and  their 
country  better  than  life,  toiled  over  the  problems  of 
destiny  and  committed  to  succeeding  generations  the 
fruits  of  their  labours. 

Again,  this  philosophical  adjustment  implies  no  hasty 
self-commitment  to  the  truth  of  that  which  is  presented 
by  another.     The  attitude  proposed  is  judicial,  delibera- 

l  Cf.  Deusben,  Indian  Antiquary  (December,  1900),  Part  I. 


The  Nature  of  Religion  35 

tive,  open-minded ;  it  is  willing  to  inspect  the  foundation 
of  another's  thought  ;  to  see,  as  through  another's  eyes,  the 
meaning  of  life  to  him ;  to  feel,  as  with  another's  heart, 
the  value  of  that  which,  for  him,  is  the  truth  concerning 
God  and  the  soul.  After  one  has  done  this,  there 
remains  undiminished  one's  power  to  reject,  or  to 
condemn. 

Finally :  this  philosophical  adjustment,  mutual  and 
friendly,  is  to  be  commended  because  it  is  worthy  of  the 
unity  of  the  race  of  mankind.  After  all  is  said  and  done, 
it  remains  that  we  are  men,  born  of  woman,  born  into  one 
world.  Whatever  the  problems  of  our  pre-existence  may 
have  been,  whatever  the  problems  of  our  future  estate, 
disembodied  or  re-incarnate,  may  be,  here  for  a  season  we 
stand  together,  the  same  sun  lighting  our  day,  the  same 
stars  tempering  our  night ;  and  birth,  and  growth,  and  love, 
and  sorrow,  and  death  our  common  discipline  in  the 
school  of  life.  We  can  afford  to  open  our  hearts  to  one 
another  ;  to  trust  each  other  with  the  secrets  of  our  faith 
as  we  ascend  toward  the  Infinite  ;  to  look  with  kind  eyes 
into  each  other's  souls. 

In  such  a  spirit  may  we  approach  this  study  of  Chris- 
tianity which  I  have  conceived  in  love  and  would  utter 
with  humility  ;  on  such  a  basis  of  mutual  honour  and  con- 
fidence may  we  stand  together  and  commune  of  Him  in 
whom,  by  whatsoever  name  we  call  Him,  through  whatso- 
ever veils  we  see  Him,  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. 


SECOND  LECTUKE 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OF  GOD  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO 
EXPERIENCE 

In  opening  my  second  lecture,  the  theme  of  which  is 
"The  Christian  Idea  of  God  and  Its  Kelation  to  Experi- 
ence," I  shall  venture  to  remind  you  of  the  mental  attitude 
that,  by  virtue  of  the  friendly  understanding  existing  be- 
tween us,  I  am  permitted  to  attribute  to  my  learned 
hearers.  It  is  assumed  to  contain  three  elements:  an  in- 
tellectual elimination,  an  historical  retrospect,  a  philo- 
sophical adjustment.  The  intellectual  elimination  fulfils 
itself  through  the  dismissal  from  your  minds,  as  irrelevant 
to  our  present  discussion,  of  these  considerations:  that 
Christianity  is  less  ancient  than  the  Aryan  faiths  of 
India;  that  in  Europe,  Christianity  has  contracted  en- 
tangling relations  with  civil  and  military  government; 
and  that  wherever,  throughout  the  world,  nominally  Chris- 
tian communities  exist,  they  contain  a  proportion  of  indi- 
viduals morally  discreditable.  These  considerations,  how- 
ever true  in  themselves,  have  no  bearing  upon  the  present 
discussion.  The  historical  retrospect  implies  your  observ- 
ance of  the  fact  that  the  Christian  religion  springs  not 
from  European,  but  Asiatic,  soil — a  product  of  Eastern,  not 
Western,  culture ;  and  that,  while  it  owes  its  full  develop- 
ment to  the  contributions  made  by  Aryan  philosophy  and 
Aryan  theism,  it  is  in  essence  an  outcome  from  that 
religiously  eminent  and  politically  unimportant  people, 
the  Hebrew  branch  of  the  Semitic  stock.  The  philo- 
sophical adjustment  implies  sentiment  rather  than  action ; 
the  kindly  spirit  that  welcomes  comparison  of  points  of 

36 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  37 

view;  the  open  mind  that,  upon  broad  human  grounds, 
receives  and  ponders  results  attained  by  other  seekers  after 
God ;  the  judicial  temper  that,  scorning  prejudice  and  pas- 
sion, estimates  religious  values  by  the  eternal  standards  of 
truth  and  righteousness. 

It  is  not  only  easy,  but  delightful,  to  speak  to  minds 
adopting  such  an  attitude  toward  that  which,  in  the  order 
of  thought,  must  be  our  first  subject  of  inquiry:  the 
Christian  idea  of  God  and  its  relation  to  experience.  By 
many  chief  thinkers  of  the  western  world  the  idea  of 
God  is  esteemed  to  be  the  ultimate  end  and  goal  of 
knowledge.1  Thought  in  its  evolution  has  passed  through 
stages,  wherein,  for  a  season,  other  and  narrower  views 
have  prevailed.  The  empirical  philosophy,  recognising 
experience  as  the  only  valid  basis  of  action,  seeks  to 
limit  the  realities  of  knowledge  to  impressions  and  ideas; 
impressions  being  the  fleeting,  single  contacts  upon  our 
senses  of  the  separate  phenomena  of  nature;  ideas  being 
the  more  or  less  clear  remembrance  of  those  impressions; 
and  self  being,  not  a  single  thing,  but  an  infinite  suc- 
cession of  impressions  and  of  memories  of  those  im- 
pressions. But  if  phenomena  be  all  that  man  can  know, 
it  were  vain,  upon  such  a  theory  of  knowledge,  to  seek  a 
First  Cause;  vain  even  to  consider  cause  as  a  reality. 
Causation,  time,  space,  self,  become  fictions.  Man  must 
dismiss  the  disquieting  dream  of  sounding  the  depths  of 
philosophical  problems ;  he  must  be  content  with  observing, 
recording,  and  classifying  the  phenomena  that  every  instant 
are  impressing  themselves  upon  that  body  of  associated 
ideas  which  he  calls  himself.  Under  such  a  theory  of 
existence  the  goal  of  knowledge  becomes  the  world  of 
phenomena  in  which  we  live,  and  the  chief  end  of  man 

i  Cf.  Edward  Caied,  op.  cit..  Vol.  I,  Lecture  VI. 


38  Barrows  Lectures 

is  to  catalogue  facts,  to  compute  the  totals  of  experi- 
ence, to  heap  up  cognitions  of  individual  existence,  and 
to  transmit  the  record  of  these  impressions  to  those  who, 
coming  after  him,  must  tread  the  paths  that  he  has 
trodden,  and  prolong  the  weary  pilgrimage  through  the 
desert  of  materialism. 

He  who  desires  to  understand  the  Christian  religion 
must  realise  that  its  fundamental  postulate  is  the  existence 
of  a  God  who  can  be  known;  its  crowning  aspiration  is 
to  know  that  God  aright.  The  chief  end  of  Christianity 
is  the  knowledge  of  the  Infinite  One.  "  This  is  life  eternal, " 
says  Christ,  "that  they  might  know  Thee  the  only  true  God, 
and  Jesus  Christ  whom  Thou  hast  sent." !  Knowledge 
is  the  master-key  that  unlocks  the  mysteries  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  the  corner-stone  on  which  the  structure  rests ;  the 
word  that  explains  why  Christianity  exists.  Christianity 
is  not  a  school  hedged  about  with  technicality,  for  the 
study  of  abstruse  theory  and  the  subtle  rivalry  of  dialectic ; 
it  is  not  a  temple,  fulfilling  itself  in  its  altar,  its  priesthood, 
and  its  ritual.  Christianity  is  a  path,  open  to  the  sky,  the 
sunlight,  and  the  wind  of  God's  ungrudging  love;  free 
and  unfenced  that  all  may  walk  therein;  a  path  that 
broadens  as  it  climbs  the  mountain-side  of  truth ;  a  path 
whose  goal  is  the  highest  knowledge,  even  the  knowledge 
of  the  Infinite  One,  in  whom,  and  of  whom,  and  by  whom 
are  all  things. 

I  say  this  with  a  greater  joy,  because  I  believe  that  the 
same  statement  may  be  made  concerning  the  highest  goal 
of  Hindu  religious  aspiration;  and  I  welcome  every 
point  where  cross  the  paths  of  earth's  seekers  after 
God.  Are  not  these  the  words  of  Sankara  in  the  intro- 
duction   to    his    commentary    on    the    Vedanta    Sutras : 

1  St.  John  17: 3. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  39 

"The  enquiry  into  Brahma  has  for  its  fruit  eternal 
bliss;  the  highest  aim  of  man  is  realised  by  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Brahma.  The  complete  comprehension  of 
Brahma  is  the  highest  end  of  man'1?1  Is  it  not  also  said 
in  one  of  the  Upanishads:  "He  who  knows  Brahma 
attains  the  highest"  ?2  No  intelligent  mind,  much  more, 
no  heart  possessing  the  spirit  of  brotherhood,  can  be  un- 
moved by  this  coincidence  of  view  between  the  concep- 
tion of  a  knowable  Brahma  proclaimed  in  the  venerable 
Upanishads,  and  the  harmonious  voice  of  one  of  the 
greatest  of  the  western  religious  teachers,  himself  now 
passed  into  the  vision  of  the  Infinite:  "Reason,  fol- 
lowing in  the  wake  of  faith,  grasps  the  great  conception 
that  the  religious  life  is  a  life  at  once  human  and  Divine — 
the  conception  that  God  is  a  self -revealing  God;  that  the 
Infinite  does  not  annul,  but  realises,  Himself  in  the  finite, 
and  that  the  highest  revelation  of  God  is  the  life  of  God 
in  the  soul  of  man ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  finite 
rests  on,  and  realises  itself  in,  the  Infinite ;  and  that  it  is 
not  the  annihilation,  but  the  realisation  of  our  highest 
freedom,  in  every  movement  of  our  thought,  in  every  pul- 
sation of  our  will,  to  be  the  organ  and  expression  of  the 
mind  and  will  of  God."3 

For  those  who  hold  in  common  that  the  Infinite  One 
is  knowable,  and  that  the  goal  of  religion  is  approached 
through  the  perfecting  of  that  knowledge,  a  calm  exami- 
nation of  Christianity  is  possible  even  though  it  should 
disclose  philosophical  and  practical  conclusions  far  re- 
moved from  those  of  Hinduism.  And  if,  as  I  proceed, 
that  divergence  shall  appear  more  evident  and  more 
extensive,  I  may  trust  you  still  to  follow  the  course  of  my 

lAdhyaya,  I,  P&da,  I.  2Taittiriyaka-upanishad;  H,valllj  1,  anuvaka. 

3  J.  Caied,  The  Fundamental  Ideas  of  Christianity,  Vol.  I,  p.  54. 


40  Barrows  Lectures 

observations  in  the  same  spirit  of  love  in  which  I  shall 
utter  them.  If  I  have  described  Christianity  as  a  path, 
broad  and  unfenced,  free  to  all  men,  winding  np  the 
mountain-side  of  truth,  may  I  not  ask  that  we  all,  of 
whatsoever  faith  here  present,  walk  together  in  friendly 
converse  on  that  unfenced  path  for  a  while,  even  though 
you  be  constrained  to  turn  back  at  the  last  ?  It  is  through 
such  fellowship  that  the  hearts  of  men  are  knit  together, 
even  while  their  minds  may  fail  to  attain  intellectual  con- 
sensus. 

To  say  that  the  chief  end  of  Christianity  is  knowledge 
of  the  Infinite  One  is  to  state  the  fundamental  postulate 
cf  that  religion  in  the  interpretation  of  which  I  am  now 
engaged.  But  such  a  statement  of  the  chief  end  of  Chris- 
tianity must  be  defined  farther  before  it  can  gain  the  form 
and  colour  and  content  that  belong  to  the  essential  nature 
of  Christian  theism.  One  cannot  understand  what  a 
Christian  means  by  knowing  God  until  the  two  ideas,  God 
and  human  personality,  are  defined  in  the  terms  of  Chris- 
tian belief. 

There  are  modes  of  interpreting  the  concepts  God  and 
human  personality  dissimilar  in  themselves  and  leading 
to  conclusions  variant,  if  not  mutually  incompatible.  In 
illustration  of  this  statement  I  shall  indicate  certain 
methods  of  interpreting  the  idea  of  God,  and  I  shall 
attempt  to  point  out  the  particulars  in  which  apparently 
they  fail,  by  important  omissions,  to  present  the  fullness 
of  content  offered  in  that  method  of  interpretation  which 
is  characteristic  of  Christianity. 

The  deistic  or  transcendent  method  of  interpreting 
the  idea  of  God  shall  engage  our  attention  first.  One 
problem  of  all  monotheistic  systems  of  belief  is  so  to 
state  the  doctrine  of  God  that  justice  shall  be  done,  on 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  41 

the  one  hand,  to  the  conception  of  an  Infinite  Deity 
and  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  reality  of  the  world.1  A 
pantheistic  system  escapes  this  problem  by  denying  the 
reality  of  the  world  or  by  merging  the  world  in  the 
Infinite.  Deism,  instead  of  obliterating  the  distinction 
between  God  and  the  world  accentuates  it.  It  represents 
God  to  be  an  objective  Person  living  apart  from  His  world, 
transcending  it  and  interested  in  it  as  the  maker  of  a 
machine  is  interested  in  the  fruit  of  his  genius,  or  as  a 
king  is  interested  in  governing  his  subjects.  This 
involves  a  dualistic  theory  of  the  universe.  On  the  one 
hand  is  God  the  Ruler,  the  King,  the  Mover  of  the  world, 
seated  as  it  were  upon  His  throne.  On  the  other  hand, 
separate  from  God  as  the  painting  is  separate  from  the 
artist,  as  the  statue  is  separate  from  the  sculptor,  as  the 
man  in  the  street  is  separate  from  the  king  in  the  palace, 
is  the  vast  system  of  nature.  In  the  midst  of  the  system 
of  nature  is  man  with  his  equipment  of  physical  and 
intellectual  powers,  his  freedom  of  choice,  his  distinct, 
inviolable  individuality. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  such  a  method  of  inter- 
preting the  idea  of  God  would  have,  for  a  certain  class  of 
minds,  a  desirable  simplicity.  The  traditions  of  the 
human  race  have  brought  down  to  us  from  an  immemorial 
past  the  conception  of  sovereignty  expressed  through  a 
royal  person  elevated  above  his  subjects  by  superior  rank ; 
separated  from  them  by  seclusion  and  the  prerogative  of 
the  throne;  demanding  and  receiving  homage;  swaying 
the  destinies  of  millions.  No  tradition  is  more  universal 
than  the  tradition  of  monarchy.  Crowns,  sceptres,  palaces, 
are  symbols  that  need  no  interpretation  the  world  over. 
It  is  natural  that  ideas  begotten  of  the  tradition  of  royalty 

i  Cf.  J.  Caied,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  I,  p.  114. 


42  Barrows  Lectures 

should  project  themselves  into  the  region  of  religious 
thought,  and  dominate  the  conception  of  God.  The  effect 
of  those  ideas  upon  a  religious  system  is  obvious.  God 
becomes  a  name  for  a  colossal  King-Emperor  whose  palace 
is  the  heaven  of  heavens.  There  he  lives  in  the  seclusion 
of  royalty ;  removed  by  resources  of  power  from  the  frailty 
of  human  life.  The  world,  created  at  the  beginning  by 
his  command,  survives  only  at  his  pleasure,  and  is  like  a 
trampled  plain  whereon  the  myriads  of  mankind  appear, 
live  their  lives  of  struggle  and  sorrow,  die,  and  pass  to 
judgment  amidst  the  shadows  of  the  unknown. 

The  limitations  of  time  forbid  me  to  dwell  upon  the 
effects  of  this  conception  of  God  upon  the  religious  life 
of  man.  The  practical  effects  have  been  variable.  Some- 
times those  who  have  held  the  extreme  view  of  the  tran- 
scendence of  God  have  suffered  the  extinction  of  the 
religious  life.  God  being  separated  from  the  world,  the 
individual  man  became  a  fatalist  coerced  by  the  machinery 
of  the  natural  order.  Sometimes  the  effect  of  this  concep- 
tion of  God  has  been  a  religious  life  of  melancholy  self- 
adjustment  to  the  edicts  of  an  absolute,  unsympathetic 
ruler;  together  with  a  stern  delight  in  self-torturing 
renunciation  of  a  world  conceived  of  as  without  God. 

But,  at  the  moment,  we  are  more  interested  in  the 
philosophical  bearings  of  this  idea  of  God,  as  separated 
by  transcendence  from  the  visible  universe,  than  in  its 
practical  effects  upon  the  religious  life.  I  beg  therefore 
to  point  out  a  reason  why  Christianity  is  unable  to  con- 
tent itself  with  this  view  of  God.  Its  fundamental  fault 
is  that  it  undertakes  to  draw  a  line  separating  what  it  con- 
ceives of  as  two  independent  realities:  on  the  one  hand, 
the  reality  of  the  finite ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  reality  of 
the  infinite.     On' one  side  of  the  line  it  places  a   reality 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  43 

which  it  conceives  of  as  Not-God.  The  content  of  this 
reality  is  man — his  thoughts,  his  powers,  his  whole  per- 
sonality, together  with  the  innumerable  separate  objects 
and  existences  by  which  he  is  surrounded  and  which  make 
up  the  world;  this  it  calls  the  finite.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  line,  separated  from  the  finite,  is  a  reality 
which  it  .calls  God,  a  Being  complete  in  his  own  equip- 
ment of  powers  and  qualities,  who  from  an  exalted  station 
looks  and  acts  upon  the  finite,  and  to  whom  the  finite 
looks  as  to  an  existence  altogether  separate  from  itself. 
It  is  impossible  for  Christianity  to  be  satisfied  with  this 
conception  of  God.  It  is  a  denial  of  the  idea  of  infinity 
to  set  off  from  it  by  lines  and  bounds  a  region  of  in- 
dependent existence  which  we  call  finite  and  to  which  we 
attribute  a  separate  life,  having  equal  reality  with  the  life 
of  the  infinite,  yet  distinct  from  it.  Such  a  separation  is 
to  limit  infinity,  which  is  a  contradiction  in  terms;  infinity 
being  the  unlimited.  Christianity  cannot  lend  itself  to 
such  confusion. 

But  I  shall  be  asked:  Has  not  Christianity  already  lent 
itself  to  this  confusion?  Is  not  the  phraseology  of  the 
Bible  essentially  dualistic,  presenting  to  the  mind  a  view 
of  God  as  sovereign  Ruler,  dwelling  in  the  heavens,  look- 
ing down  upon  man,  and  approached  by  man  with  a 
system  of  sacrifices  and  with  forms  of  worship  which  at 
every  point  assume  the  reality  of  the  finite  as  separate 
from  the  reality  of  the  Infinite?  With  perfect  frankness 
would  I  reply :  It  is  true  that  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  intent 
on  the  development  of  the  monotheistic  conception,  con- 
stantly present  God  in  terms  of  transcendence,  speaking 
of  Him  as  the  high  and  holy  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity ; 
whose  pavilion  is  in  the  clouds,  whose  attitude  toward 
man  is  that  of  the  sovereign  Ruler  and  Lawgiver.     It  is 


44  Barrows  Lectures 

true  that  the  sanctuary  of  Israel  had  its  Holy  of  Holies 
upon  which  this  transcendent  God  was  understood  locally 
to  manifest  Himself  in  the  cloud  of  glory.  It  is  true 
that  the  ordinary  language  of  Christian  teaching  and 
Christian  prayer  abounds  in  imagery  and  suggestions  that 
imply  a  view  of  God  as  wholly  transcendent ;  and  it  is 
true  that  the  philosophy  of  the  Christian  religion  ex- 
hibits stages  of  development  wherein  the  separateness  of 
human  personality  is  accentuated  in  terms  that  may  be 
interpreted  as  dualistic.  But  no  Oriental  should  be 
betrayed  into  the  error  of  interpreting  the  popular  usages 
of  Christian  speech,  wherein  the  finite  continually  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Infinite,  as  the  endorsement  of  a 
philosophy  that  would  shut  God  away  from  His  world,  and 
out  of  the  lives  of  His  children;  that  would  make  Him 
but  an  exaggerated  and  colossal  representation  of  man ; 
usurping  the  title,  while  lacking  the  essence,  of  the  In- 
finite. It  will  appear,  as  we  proceed,  that  while  in  the 
transcendence  of  God  Christianity  discerns  a  truth  that 
must  be  conserved,  a  truth  that  deepens  reverence  and 
quickens  worship,  and  that  contributes  an  important  ele- 
ment to  the  all-inclusive  idea  of  the  Infinite ;  yet  the  in- 
terpretation of  that  truth  in  terms  that  would  set  off  the 
world  from  God  as  a  region  outside  of  and  apart  from 
His  infinity  is  as  repugnant  to  the  Christian  as  it  is  to  the 
pantheist. 

We  have  viewed  the  theory  of  transcendence  as  an 
attempt  to  realise  the  Infinite  by  emphasising  the  differ- 
ence in  quality  between  finite  and  infinite,  and  by  clothing 
the  idea  of  God  with  associations  derived  from  earthly 
conceptions  of  authority,  royalty,  and  rank,  that  result  in 
anthropomorphism ;  which  is  making  a  God  who  is  but  a 
magnified  man. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  45 

From  this  we  turn  to  another  line  along  which  man  has 
sought  to  find  his  way  to  a  satisfactory  idea  of  the  supreme 
Self;  the  reverse  of  that  which  seeks  to  describe,  in  terms 
borrowed  from  earthly  relations,  the  nature  and  the 
attributes  of  God.  It  is  the  method  of  negation,  seek- 
ing an  undefinable  Infinite  through  the  elimination  of 
those  qualities  and  attributes  that  are  suggested  to  man 
by  his  own  self-consciousness.  The  objective  point  in  the 
method  of  negation  is  the  abstraction  from  the  idea  of 
God  of  all  attributes,  all  qualities,  all  differences,  until 
nothing  is  left  for  the  mind  to  contemplate  but  pure  being, 
without  definition  —  the  undefinable  Absolute.  This  In- 
finite is  without  qualities;  attributes  or  qualities  con- 
ceived in  connection  with  it  are  to  be  denied.  We 
know  only  what  it  is  not;  and  that  unknowable  resultant 
which  remains  after  all  that  it  is  not  has  been  stripped 
off,  is  the  one,  the  only,  the  eternal  Reality;  the  supreme 
Self,  the  illimitable  Essence.  In  saying  this  I  am  not 
forgetting  that  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  pantheistic 
doctrine  so  far  to  qualify  the  supreme  Existence  as  to 
attribute  to  it  intelligence  (as  opposed  to  that  dullness  or 
blindness  which  belongs  to  finite  existence)  and  blessedness 
or  joy  (as  opposed  to  all  possible  suffering).  I  recognise 
that  these  discriminations  are  made,  and  made  with  in- 
creased emphasis,  by  certain  Indian  thinkers  of  our  time; 
yet,  in  the  very  making  of  them,  the  genius  of  the  purest 
pantheism  retains  the  concept  of  motionless,  formless  being 
as  the  essence  of  the  unqualified  Absolute. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  the  charm  exercised  by 
this  philosophy  of  the  Infinite  over  some  of  the  purest 
and  profoundest  natures  that  have  adorned  the  annals  of 
thought,  in  Asia  and  in  Europe.    There  is  in  it  the  promise 


46  Barrows  Lectures 

of  a  way  of  escape  from  the  clash  of  incidents,  struggling 
of  lives,  and  conflict  of  interests  that  make  the  bewilder- 
ment and  the  weariness  of  earthly  existence.  There  is  in 
it  the  solace  of  an  infinite  calm  existing  in  the  solemn 
depths  of  being,  far  beneath  the  storm  and  stress  of 
superficial  things ;  the  pledge  of  release  from  the  exhaust- 
ing pursuits  and  competitions  that  fret  the  lives  of  mortals, 
haunting  them  with  baseless  hopes,  tormenting  them  with 
illusory  desires.  There  is  in  it  the  repose  of  the  Absolute, 
the  Undefined,  the  Unconditioned,  standing  over  against 
the  turmoil  of  a  vain  world  as  the  cool  glades  of  the 
primeval  forest  call  one  away  from  the  parched  and  arid 
plain. 

For  herein,  I  suppose,  is  the  essential  power  and  charm 
of  pantheism;  not,  as  some  hastily  have  judged,  in  that  it 
deifies  nature,  making  every  power  of  the  physical  world 
and  every  human  life  a  manifestation  of  the  Divine,  but 
in  the  far  deeper  thought  that  it  undermines  and  dissipates 
the  reality  of  all  that  is  finite ;  that  it  solves  life's  problems, 
obliterates  life's  errours,  relieves  life's  burdens,  assuages 
life's  sorrows,  quiets  life's  craving  with  one  great  word — 
illusion.  It  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the  correspondence 
of  pantheism  with  a  certain  element  in  man's  nature  that 
is  found  in  the  common  life  of  humanity  beneath  all  race- 
differences,  that  long  before  the  Indian  philosophy  was 
known  in  Europe  there  were  pure  and  gifted  spirits  who, 
like  Spinoza,  were  working  along  the  lines  of  the  loftiest 
pantheism  to  undermine  the  reality  of  the  finite  and  to 
give  the  weary  soul  of  man  relief  from  its  burden  through 
a  doctrine  of  illusion.  That  effort,  whether  pursued  in  the 
East  or  in  the  West,  never  can  be  spoken  of  save  with 
reverence  by  those  who  are  disenthralled  from  religious 
prejudice  and  whose  hearts  are  full  of  love.     For,  in  its 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  47 

two  characteristic  endeavours,  the  approach  to  the  Infinite 
by  the  way  of  negation  and  the  solution  of  the  problem 
of  phenomenal  being  by  the  principle  of  illusion,  are 
suggestions  of  the  highest  moral  value.  I  would  deal 
with  these  two  characteristic  notes  of  pantheism  in  a 
reverent  and  appreciative  spirit.  Time  forbids  me  to 
discriminate  between  the  pantheism  of  Spinoza,  that  rare 
fruit  of  the  Semitic  stock,  and  the  pantheism  of  the  Aryan 
schools  of  Hindustan.  But,  assuming  that  discrimination, 
which  an  ampler  treatment  of  this  theme  would  involve,  I 
note  with  admiration  the  philosophical  idealism  that  seeks 
to  find  the  Infinite  by  the  path  of  negation.  The  scale 
of  such  thinking  is  vast,  elemental,  heroic.  It  emanates 
from  a  sense  of  the  Divine  Immensity.  It  is  the  expression 
of  that  infinity  in  man  which  makes  him  capable  of 
conceiving  that  which  cannot  be  described  or  bounded. 
It  is  a  perpetual  protest  against  all  petty  conceptions  of 
God  that  would  make  Him  even  such  an  one  as  ourselves. 
It  is  the  triumph  of  that  subtle  sense  of  proportion  which 
conceives  the  supreme  Self  as  greater  than  any  account  of 
Him  that  can  be  given  by  the  mind  of  man.  It  is  that 
insistent  aspiration  of  the  soul  which,  seeking  one  symbol 
of  expression  after  another,  that  it  may  define  the  nature 
of  God,  finds  them  all  inadequate,  casts  them  all  aside, 
and  soars  upward,  as  on  the  pinions  of  eagles,  into  the 
unconfined,  eternal  essence  of  pure  Being.  In  every  age 
the  most  exalted  souls  thus  have  approached  God  by  rising 
above  the  symbols  of  God.  Is  it  not  this  impulse,  which 
also  moves  in  the  purest  pantheism,  that  throbs  in  the  soul 
of  the  Hebrew  prophet  as  he  cries:  "Who  hath  directed 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  or,  being  His  counsellor,  hath 
taught  Him?  With  whom  took  He  counsel,  and  who 
instructed  Him,  and  taught  Him  in  the  path  of  judgment  ? 


48  Barrows  Lectures 

To  whom  will  ye  liken  God,  or  what  likeness  will  ye 
compare  unto  Him?  The  graven  image?  A  workman 
melteth  it,  and  the  goldsmith  spreadeth  it  over  with  gold, 
and  casteth  for  it  silver  chains.  He  that  is  too  impoverished 
for  such  an  oblation  chooseth  a  tree  that  will  not  rot,  he 
seeketh  unto  him  a  cunning  workman  to  set  up  a  graven 
image  that  shall  not  be  moved.  Have  ye  not  known? 
Have  ye  not  heard?  Hath  it  not  been  told  you  from  the 
beginning  ?  Have  ye  not  understood  from  the  foundations 
of  the  earth  ?  It  is  He  that  sitteth  on  the  circle  of  the 
earth  and  the  inhabitants  thereof  are  as  grasshoppers :  To 
whom  then  will  ye  liken  Me,  or  shall  I  be  equal?  saith 
the  Holy  one!"1 

Not  less  impressive  than  this  approach  to  the  Infinite 
by  the  way  of  negation  is  that  companion  note  of  the 
purest  pantheism,  the  resolution  of  all  phenomena,  all 
cognitions,  all  volitions,  all  individualising  bodily  organs 
and  mental  functions,  into  one  vast  illusion,  one  all- 
embracing  unreality.2  At  the  foundation  of  this  doctrine  of 
illusion,  unless  I  quite  misapprehend  its  scope,  lies  the 
same  heroic  conception  of  the  supreme  Self  to  which 
already  I  have  referred.  That  supreme  Self  is  conceived 
as  the  only  Reality.  The  innumerable  differences  and 
subdivisions  of  human  life  and  the  phenomenal  world; the 
individual  wills,  emotions,  cognitions  of  men;  the  forces 
and  appearances  of  the  visible  universe,  were  they  real, 
would  be  limitations  placed  upon  the  absoluteness  of  the 
highest  Self.  Therefore  they  cannot  be  real  in  themselves. 
They  are  but  the  mysterious  cloud  of  illusion  that  envelopes 
the  one  Reality ;  the  hindering  web  through  which  at  last 
the  enlightened  soul  shall  break  from  the  thralldom  of 

1  Cf.  Isaiah  40  :  13-25. 

2Tripathi,  Sketch  of  the  Vedanta  Philosophy,  passim;  also  Thibaut,  The 
Vedanta-Satras  ("Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  Vol.  XXXIV,  Introduction),  p.  34. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  49 

merit  and  demerit,  desire,  struggle,  pleasure,  sorrow,  toil, 
attainment,  failure,  into  knowledge,  the  knowledge  that  its 
selfhood  is  one  with  that  highest  Self.  It  is  a  thought 
that  has  visited  many  a  seeker  after  rest  whose  philosophy 
was  by  no  means  pantheistic — a  thought  that  breathes 
the  very  deepest  yearning  of  the  soul.  For  who  is  there 
among  the  noble  souls  of  the  ages  that  has  not  longed  "to 
escape  from  the  unrest  and  dissatisfaction  which  the 
ordinary  desires  and  passions  engender,  and  to  find  some 
object  in  union  with  which  the  soul  would  attain  to  a 
perfect  and  abiding  rest"?1  Who  is  there  that  hungers 
not  for  absolute  reality,  as  the  ordinary  objects  of  human 
desire  are  proved  by  experience  to  be  "illusory  and 
deceptive,  filling  the  soul  with  vain  hopes,  and,  in  the  very 
moment  of  attainment,  vanishing  from  the  hand  that 
seemed  to  grasp  them"?2  Is  it  not  this  sense  of  the 
exhausting  confusion  of  the  phenomenal  world  as  contrasted 
with  the  peace  of  the  infinite  Reality  that  impels  the 
Psalmist  to  cry:  "Fearfulness  and  trembling  are  come 
upon  me,  and  I  said:  Oh!  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove, 
for  then  would  I  fly  away  and  be  at  rest"?3  Is  it  not 
this  sense  of  an  unseen  Reality  abiding  forever  beneath 
the  incessant  transitions  of  the  phenomenal  present  that 
leads  the  Apostle  to  say,  as  one  who  detects  life's  illusion 
and  pierces  the  veils  of  the  unreal :  "  For  our  light  affliction 
which  is  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory ;  while  we  look  not  at  the 
things  which  are  seen  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen; 
for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  are  eternal"  ?* 

Christianity,  while  it  views  with  respect  the  mental 

1  Cf.  J.  Caied,  Fundamentals  of  Christianity,  Vol.  I,  p.  99. 

2 Ibid.,  p.  100.  3  Ps.  55  : 6.  *  2  Cor.  i  :  17, 18. 


50  Barrows  Lectures 

processes  that  approach  the  idea  of  an  Infinite  God  by  the 
path  of  negation,  and  that  solve  the  mystery  of  the  phe- 
nomenal world  by  a  doctrine  of  illusion,  does  not  arrive  at 
the  conclusions  that  produce  a  pantheistic  philosophy. 
Inasmuch  as  the  distinctive  beliefs  of  Christianity  can  be 
understood  and  their  religious  values  can  be  estimated 
only  in  the  light  of  their  philosophical  antecedents,  I  shall 
suggest  certain  grounds  upon  which  Christianity  must  be 
differentiated  from  all  pantheistic  systems. 

It  will  be  sufficient  for  my  purpose  to  indicate  two 
such  grounds. 

Christianity  stands  apart  from  pantheism  in  its  method 
of  reaching  a  conception  of  the  Infinite  One  and  in  its  esti- 
mate of  human  personality. 

I  have  pointed  out  that,  in  the  purest  and  highest  type 
of  pantheism,  approach  to  the  idea  of  an  Infinite  One  is 
made  by  the  path  of  negation,  by  stripping  off  and  casting 
away  all  qualifying  terms,  attributes,  distinctions,  rela- 
tions, until  the  process  of  elimination  is  complete  and  there 
remains  only  a  Unit  of  Being — separated  from  all  differ- 
ences— the  absolute  simplicity  of  being.  That  is  con- 
ceived as  the  highest  Self,  the  ultimate  Reality,  which, 
having  the  least  content,  comes  nearest  to  the  truth  of 
things.1  The  Christian  seeker  after  God  is  unwilling  to 
stop  at  this  conclusion  of  the  process  of  negation.  Still 
pressing  forward  he  advances  into  the  path  of  affirmation. 
He  seeks  to  know  not  merely  what  God  is  not,  but  chiefly 
what  He  is.  He  conceives  of  that  infinite  One,  not  as 
withdrawing  Himself  from  the  individualistic  distinctions 
of  the  universe  and  retiring  into  the  inconceivableness  of 
pure  being  without  attributes  or  qualities,  but  rather  as 
filling  the  universe  with   His  fullness,  and   as  realising 

i  Cf.  Edward  Caied,  Evolution  of  Religion,  Vol.  I,  p.  146. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  51 

Himself  through  and  in  the  infinite  varieties  that  crowd 
the  universe  with  life. 

I  shall  speak  presently  of  what  God  is  to  the  Christian ; 
but  at  this  moment  I  am  seeking  only  to  set  forth  the 
distinction  between  the  method  of  pantheism  and  the 
method  of  Christianity  in  arriving  at  the  idea  of  God. 
The  one  aspires  toward  an  ideal  of  vague  simplicity, 
eluding  description  and  analysis;  the  other  reaches  forth 
to  an  ideal  of  infinite  completeness,  of  inexhaustible  wealth 
of  qualities,  attributes,  and  modes  of  being ;  the  fullness  of 
Him  that  filleth  all  in  all.  In  the  delight  with  which 
Christianity  pursues  this  method  of  realising  God,  finding 
in  Him  the  attributes  of  an  infinitely  beautiful  Person- 
ality, it  seems  to  represent  that  which  is  normal  in  human 
experience.  When  I  reflect  that  the  pure  classic  panthe- 
ism of  the  highest  Indian  thought  coexists  with  an  elabo- 
rate polytheism,  I  cannot  but  be  confirmed  in  the  opinion 
that  the  nature  of  man  craves  as  an  object  of  worship,  and 
as  a  source  of  spiritual  help,  that  with  which,  theoretically 
at  least,  it  can  associate  personality.  I  desire  to  be  under- 
stood as  referring  in  a  respectful  spirit  to  Hindu  deities, 
and  as  recognising  that,  in  the  higher  theological  systems  of 
Hinduism,  those  deities  are  regarded  as  modes  of  the  self- 
manifestation  of  the  one,  supreme,  unqualified  Brahma. 
Nevertheless,  that  they  should  assume  the  importance 
accorded  to  them  in  the  religious  life  of  the  people,  and 
that  in  the  philosophy  of  Hinduism  there  should  be  schools 
affirming  the  personality  of  Deity,  seems  to  show  that  the 
deepest  hunger  in  the  soul  of  man  is  for  a  God  that  can 
be  conceived  in  terms  of  personality.  Still  more  am  I 
confirmed  in  this  opinion  on  observing  how,  among  thinkers 
of  the  West,  some  who  were  advocates  of  the  most  abstract 
pantheism  came  at  length  to  clothe  that  abstraction  with  the 


52  Barrows  Lectures 

attributes  of  personality.  Spinoza,  to  whom  already  I 
have  referred,  asserted  at  the  end  of  his  speculations  what 
he  had  denied  at  the  beginning.  In  his  philosophy  "the 
indeterminate  infinite,  which  is  the  negation  of  the  finite, 
becomes  the  infinite  which  necessarily  expresses  itself  in 
the  finite ;  the  all-absorbing,  lifeless  substance  becomes 
the  God  who  knows  and  loves  Himself  and  man  with  an 
infinite  intellectual  love."1 

Christianity  also  stands  apart  from  pantheism  in  its 
estimate  of  human  personality.  The  lofty  monistic  ideal- 
ism of  the  Vedanta  teaches  the  unreality  of  personal  dis- 
tinctions and  the  illusory  nature  of  personal  experience. 
The  phenomenal  world,  or  world  of  ordinary  experience, 
consists  of  a  number  of  souls  engaged  in  specific  cogni- 
tions and  volitions,  and  of  the  objects  of  those  cognitions 
and  volitions:  both  the  cognitions  and  the  objects  are 
alike  unreal.  The  non-enlightened  soul  is  unable  to  look 
beyond  the  veil  of  illusion,  and  so  instead  of  recognising 
itself  to  be  Brahma  it  blindly  identifies  itself  with  these 
illusive  cognitions  and  seeks  its  true  self  in  them;  in  per- 
sonal experience  thus  limiting  itself  in  knowledge  and 
intelligence,  and  burdening  itself  with  merit  and  demerit, 
not  knowing  that  the  only  escape  is  through  knowledge — 
knowledge  that  there  is  no  difference  between  its  true  self 
and  the  absolute  Brahma.2  It  is  impossible  not  to  be 
impressed  with  the  sublimity  of  this  conception  of  person- 
ality ;  yet  to  the  Christian  it  is  far  from  exhausting  the 
sublimity  of  all  that  is  conveyed  to  the  mind  in  the  con- 
cept, a  human  soul !  For,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Christianity,  the  individuality  of  God  carries  with  it  as  a 
logical  necessity  the  individuality  of  man.     If  God  be,  as 

i  Spinoza,  Philosophical  Classics,  p.  303. 
2  Cf.  Tripathi  and  Thibaut,  in  loc. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  53 

Christianity  conceives  Him  to  be,  not  an  "abstract,  self- 
identical,  self-sufficing  Infinite,"  not  formless  being,  with- 
out quality  or  attribute,  but  Life  in  the  utmost  wealth  of 
attributes,  in  the  opulence  of  self-consciousness,  in  the 
infinitude  of  self-expression — if  this  be  God  (and  this 
Christianity  believes  God  to  be),  then  the  self -completing 
of  His  personality  involves  its  expression  in  the  terms  of 
finite  intelligences,  corresponding  with  His  own  intelli- 
gence because  proceeding  from  it  and  existing  only  in  and 
through  His  own  existence. 

In  my  next  lecture  I  shall  speak  of  the  Christian  idea 
of  the  Trinity  as  founded  in  the  psychological  necessity 
that  the  Absolute  Being,  in  order  to  the  completing  of  His 
own  Selfhood  shall  express  Himself  as  well  as  know  Him- 
self. But  for  the  present  I  confine  myself  to  the  relation 
of  this  principle  to  human  intelligences.  It  is  fundamental 
to  pantheism  in  its  noble  purpose  to  glorify  the  Infinite, 
that  it  shall  deny  the  separate  existence  of  finite  souls,  on  the 
ground  that  to  admit  it  would  be  to  limit  the  infiniteness  of 
Brahma;  and  therefore  the  apparent  separateness  of  the 
finite  soul  must  be  regarded  as  illusion,  escape  from  which 
is  possible  only  by  denying  individuation  and  by  identi- 
fying the  apparent  individual  with  the  very  substance  of 
God.  Christianity,  having  the  same  noble  purpose  to 
glorify  the  Infinite,  affirms  that  the  completeness  of  that 
Infinite  is  impossible  except  through  the  existence  of 
finite  intelligences;  that,  if  there  be  no  individual  souls 
with  whom  God  can  be  in  relation  and  through  whom  God 
can  realise  certain  aspects  of  His  own  personality,  then 
God  is  limited,  not  alone  in  our  thought  of  Him,  but  in 
the  actuality  of  His  being.  For,  evidently,  God,  on  any 
theory  of  His  existence,  must  be  all-complete,  containing 
in  Himself  all  possibilities  of  self-realisation.     But  there 


54  Barrows  Lectures 

are  vast  ranges  of  self-realisation  that  are  conditioned 
upon  the  existence  of  corresponding  intelligences,  endowed 
with  freedom  and  capable  of  experience.  Without  the 
existence  of  these  intelligences  the  supreme  Mind  is  shut 
out  from  the  perfect  knowledge  of  its  own  qualities. 
Man,  therefore,  in  the  philosophical  system  of  Christianity, 
is  neither  an  illusion,  beneath  which  lies  the  silent,  self- 
contained  essence  of  God,  nor  is  he  a  monstrous  after- 
thought, projected  into  time,  limiting  by  his  abnormal 
independence  the  theoretical  infiniteness  of  Him  who  is 
supposed  to  be  all  in  all.  Man  is  God's  fulfilment  of 
Himself;  man  exists  that  God  may  be  God  in  the  perfec- 
tion of  His  self-realisation  along  all  those  lines  upon 
which  Spirit  holds  relation  with  spirit. 

But  God  can  find  no  self -fulfilment  through  the  exist- 
ence of  man,  unless  man's  existence  be  as  real  as  His 
own — yes,  unless  a  man's  life  be  a  very  extension  and  re- 
production of  His  own.  To  give  man  an  unreal  and  illusory 
semblance  of  freedom,  with  phantasmal  endowments  of  will 
and  conscience,  would  be  to  leave  God  self-limited.  God 
must,  as  it  were,  reproduce  Himself  in  man — giving  him 
a  freedom  which  is  God's  freedom,  a  will  which  is  God's 
will,  a  conscience  which  is  God's  conscience;  so  that  man 
shall  be  a  differentiated  emanation  from  God.  This  is  the 
most  ancient  tradition  of  Christianity,  emerging  from  that 
undated  dawn  of  thought  which  is  alike  pre-Semitic  and 
pre-Aryan:  man  made  in  the  image  of  the  Eternal, 
whereby  man  becomes  a  living  soul,  an  essential  self- 
fulfilment  of  God.1  So  Christianity  accounts  for  human 
personality,  not  by  the  principle  of  illusion,  for  man  is 
real  in  his  individuation,  a  necessary  reality,  else  were  not 
God  perfectly  self-expressed;  and  not  by  the  principle  of 

1  Genesis  1:26,  27;  2:7. 


Tlie  Christian  Idea  of  God  55 

dualism,  making  man  distinct  from  God,  living  in  a  region 
of  self-determining  life  from  which,  by  an  incredible 
inconsistency,  the  Infinite,  who  filleth  all  things,  is  ex- 
cluded. Man  exists  only  because  God  exists,  and  God's 
life  completes  itself  in  man's  life;  and  every  individual  is 
a  differentiation  of  the  all-inclusive  Life  in  which  it  lives 
and  moves  and  has  its  being.  The  freedom  of  God  is  in 
the  individual ;  and  the  possession  of  that  freedom,  which, 
in  the  nature  of  the  case,  is  essential  not  only  to  the 
reality  of  the  individual,  but  to  the  self-realisation  of  God, 
is  the  source  of  moral  independence  and  the  ground  of 
moral  responsibility. 

The  message  of  Christianity  to  the  individual  may  be 
stated  in  the  words  of  another  concerning  individuality 
and  freedom:  "You  are  at  once  an  expression  of  the 
Divine  will,  and  by  virtue  of  that  very  fact,  the  expression 
here  and  now,  in  your  life,  of  your  own  will,  precisely  in 
so  far  as  you  find  yourself  acting  with  a  definite  intent, 
and  gaining  through  your  act  a  definite  empirical  expres- 
sion. We  do  not  say,  Your  individuality  causes  your  act, 
We  do  not  say,  Your  free  will  creates  your  life.  For 
being  is  everywhere  deeper  than  causation.  What  you 
are  is  deeper  than  your  mere  power  as  a  physical  agent. 
Nothing  whatever  besides  yourself  determines  just  what 
constitutes  your  individuality,  for  you  are  just  this  unique 
and  elsewhere  unexampled  expression  of  the  Divine  mean- 
ing. And  here  and  now  your  individuality  in  your  act  is 
your  freedom.  Thus  your  freedom  is  your  unique  pos- 
session. Nowhere  else  in  the  universe  is  there  what  here 
expresses  itself  in  your  conscious  being.  And  this  is  true 
of  you,  not  in  spite  of  the  unity  of  the  Divine  conscious- 
ness, but  just  because  of  the  very  uniqueness  of  the  whole 
Divine  life.     For  all  is  Divine,  all  expresses  meaning.     All 


56  Barrows  Lectures 

meaning  is  uniquely  expressed.  Nothing  is  vainly  re- 
peated ;  you,  too,  then,  as  individual  are  unique.  And 
(here  is  the  central  fact)  just  in  so  far  as  you  consciously 
will  and  choose,  you  then  and  there  in  so  far  know  what 
this  unique  meaning  of  your  individuality  is.  Therefore 
are  you  in  action  free  and  individual,  just  because  the 
unity  of  the  Divine  Life,  when  taken  together  with  the 
uniqueness  of  this  life,  implies  in  every  finite  being  just 
such  essential  originality  of  meaning  as  that  of  which  you 
are  conscious.  Arise  then,  freeman,  stand  forth  in  thy 
world.     It  is  God's  world.     It  is  also  thine."1 

I  have  ventured  to  assert  that  the  distinctive  beliefs  of 
Christianity  can  be  understood  and  their  religious  values 
can  be  estimated  only  in  the  light  of  their  philosophical 
antecedents.  And  I  have  attempted  to  show  that  Christi- 
anity, while  appreciating  the  contributions  of  pantheism 
to  religious  thought,  stands  apart  from  pantheistic  sys- 
tems in  its  method  of  reaching  a  conception  of  the  Infinite 
and  in  its  estimate  of  human  personality.  Its  idea  of  God  is 
comprehensive  rather  than  eliminative.  It  does  not  regard 
simplicity  of  being  as  the  highest  type  of  existence.  It 
does  not  identify  God  with  that  formless  essence  which, 
devoid  of  attributes  and  differentiations,  may  be  supposed 
to  exist,  prior  to  self-realising  activity,  in  the  serenity  of 
the  untroubled  Thought.  It  fills  its  idea  of  God  with 
the  wealth  of  complex,  manifold,  self -realising  life;  life 
that  is  perfect  because  all-embracing,  self-expressive,  per- 
sonal. 

It  sees  in  human  personality  the  finite  correspondence 
for  this  infinite  Life ;  God  realising  Himself  in  man ;  man 
unthinkable  without  God;  the  unique  expression  of  the 
Divine  will,  and,  by  virtue  thereof,  free,  with  the  freedom 

1  Josiah  Royce,  The  World  and  the  Individual,  p.  469. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  57 

of  God,  in  the  inalienable  rights,  responsibilities,  and 
realities  of  personal  existence.  I  do  not  make  these 
statements  as  one  imparting  to  his  auditors  that  with 
which  previously  they  were  unacquainted;  for  I  speak  to 
many  who  long  have  been  familiar  with  the  Christian 
point  of  view  and  to  whom  it  has  been  a  subject  of  profound 
study.  Nor  do  I  speak  as  if  these  views  of  God  and  the 
individual  had  no  counterparts  in  Eastern  thought;  for 
among  the  religious  thinkers  of  India  are  many  who,  while 
manifesting  no  approval  of  Christianity,  are  steadfast  in 
these  two  fundamental  beliefs  of  Christianity — the 
personality  of  God,  the  reality  of  the  human  soul. 

My  purpose  in  these  foregoing  affirmations  has  been 
to  establish  a  basis  upon  which  to  estimate  the  religious 
value  of  the  distinctive  beliefs  of  Christianity.  By  this 
term  I  intend  to  indicate  subjective  value — value  for  the 
individual,  realised  by  him  through  experience.  These 
terms,  "value"  and  "experience,"  simple  in  themselves, 
call  for  definition  when  employed  in  a  religious  connection 
before  an  audience  of  oriental  minds. 

Value  may  be  objective  and  absolute,  or  subjective 
and  relative.  Under  a  government  adopting  a  gold 
standard,  a  coin  issued  by  the  realm  is  understood  to  have 
an  absolute  value.  It  stands  for  so  much ;  no  more,  no  less. 
That  absolute  value  is  not  affected  by  the  sentiment  or  the 
condition  of  him  who  uses  the  coin.  Whereas  relatively 
the  single  gold  coin  may  appear  to  have  a  far  greater  value 
for  him  who  is  in  need  than  for  him  who  is  in  affluence, 
absolutely  the  value  is  fixed  and  cannot  be  diminished  or 
increased. 

But  who  has  not  possessed  some  precious  keepsake  that 
came  from  a  beloved  one?  It  might  be  a  book  inscribed 
bv  a  dear  hand  long:   resting  in  death.     It  rnig;ht  be  a 


58  Barrows  Lectures 

flower  held  and  breathed  on  by  one  whose  radiant 
countenance  has  vanished  forever.  What  is  its  value? 
To  a  stranger,  nothing ;  it  is  a  thing  to  be  set  aside  and 
forgotten.  To  you,  who  see  in  it  the  pledge  and  sacrament 
of  undying  love,  and  unto  whom  it  is  as  the  "touch  of  a 
vanished  hand,"  its  value  is  above  rubies.  Such  value  is 
subjective  and  relative,  determined  by  that  which  is  within 
yourself:  memory,  affection,  sorrow. 

It  is  altogether  in  this  latter  sense,  subjective  and 
relative,  that  I  shall  speak  of  the  religious  value  of 
Christian  ideas.  It  is  the  only  practical  sense  in  which 
the  term  can  be  applied,  in  the  present  stage  of  our 
discussion.  I  may,  indeed,  be  convinced  that  these  ideas 
have  an  absolute  value  which  is  objective,  in  themselves, 
and  equal  for  all  men.  I  may  give  reasons  for  that 
conviction,  and  may  attempt  to  bring  others  into  con- 
currence with  it.  But  that  attempt,  however  earnestly 
made,  must  lack  the  kind  of  authority  with  which  I  am 
able  to  speak  of  the  subjective  value  of  these  ideas  for 
one  who  has  incorporated  them  in  his  own  life.  What  is 
the  nature  of  the  authority  which  enables  me  to  speak 
with  assurance  of  the  subjective  value  of  the  religious 
ideas  of  Christianity,  that  is,  their  value  for  the  individual? 
Manifestly  the  only  authority  I  can  claim  is  the  authority 
of  experience;  primarily  my  own  experience,  as  that  to 
which  I  have  immediate  access;  secondarily,  and  by  way 
of  corroborative  testimony,  the  experience  of  many  other 
persons,  reported  to  me  and  coinciding  with  my  own. 

What  is  experience?  Considered  merely  as  a  word  in 
the  vocabulary  of  language,  experience  is  the  action  of 
putting  to  the  test;  it  is  an  operation  performed  in  order 
to  ascertain  or  illustrate  some  truth ;  it  is,  then,  the  fact 
of  being  consciously  the  subject  of  a  state  or  condition ;  it 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  59 

is,  finally,  knowledge  resulting  from  what  one  has  under- 
gone.1 Concerning  the  truth  of  these  definitions  from  a 
literary  point  of  view,  probably  there  will  be  no  discussion. 
But  when,  not  seeking  a  literary  definition,  but  a  philo- 
sophical analysis,  I  ask,  "What  is  experience?"  imme- 
diately I  am  furnished  with  two  replies  which  appear  to 
be  mutually  contradictory,  if  not  mutually  destructive.  I 
shall  be  told  by  some:  Experience  is  illusion;  it  is  the 
veil  that  enwraps  and  impedes  the  unenlightened  soul, 
keeping  it  from  the  knowledge  of  its  highest  self.  I 
shall  be  told  that  the  emotions,  conceptions,  beliefs, 
purporting  to  be  communicated  to  the  soul  by  the  ideas 
of  the  Christian  religion,  are  shadows  cast  by  shadows.  I 
shall  be  reminded  that  the  recognition  of  experience  is  a 
stumbling-block  in  the  soul's  progress  toward  release,  and 
that  the  path  of  wisdom  leads  away  from  the  low  and  fog- 
bound levels  of  experience  to  those  heights  where  the 
individual  self  is  taken  into  the  absolute  Self  as  the  view- 
less air  that  sweeps  up  the  mountain-pass  is  lost,  yet  never 
lost,  in  the  infinite  etherial  atmosphere. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  I  shall  be  told:  "Experience 
is  real  for  a  self-conscious  individual. "  "  A  will,  concretely 
embodied  in  a  life,  is  reality.  The  self-conscious  Absolute 
which  we  call  God  is  the  ultimate  Reality.  He  embodies 
one  will  and  realises  this  will  in  the  unity  of  His  own  life. 
And  every  finite,  self-conscious  individual  is  real  up  to  his 
limit  and  in  his  own  measure  free,  and  no  other  finite 
individual  could  take  his  place,  share  his  self -consciousness, 
or  accomplish  his  ideal."2  By  finite  experience  we  mean 
that  this  self-conscious  individual  sees,  observes,  knows, 
lives.     This  is  his  realm  of  experience,  and  it  is  real     I 

1  Cf.  Mubbay's  Dictionary,  in  loc. 

%Cf.  Eotce,  The  World  and  the  Individual,  pp.  359-66;  The  Conception  of 
God,  p.  272. 


60  Barrows  Lectures 

am  glad  to  feel  that  there  are  many  in  India,  who,  while 
not  accepting  Christianity  in  its  theological  conclusions, 
concur  in  its  assertion  of  the  reality  of  personal  experience. 

Whatever  results  may  issue  from  a  philosophical  analy- 
sis of  experience,  touching  its  reality  or  its  unreality,  there 
is,  surely,  a  ground  upon  which  all  thinking  persons 
stand  together.  That  ground  is:  the  reality  of  a  self  in 
man.  Whatever  that  self  may  be,  whether  God,  or  Brahma, 
or  man  made  in  God's  image  and  endowed  with  self -deter- 
mining powers,  the  existence  of  that  self  cannot  be 
denied.  "He  who  denies  it  would  himself  be  that  self 
which  he  denies.  No  self  can  deny  itself." '  The  exist- 
ence of  a  self  in  man  is  personal  identity.  "My  personal 
identity,"  says  one  who  thought  deeply  on  these  matters, 
"implies  the  continued  existence  of  that  indivisible  thing 
which  I  call  myself.  Whatever  this  self  may  be,  it  is 
something  which  thinks  and  deliberates  and  resolves  and 
acts  and  suffers.  I  am  not  thought,  I  am  not  action,  I 
am  not  feeling ;  I  am  something  that  thinks,  and  acts,  and 
suffers.  My  thoughts,  and  actions,  and  feelings  change 
every  moment ;  they  have  no  continued,  but  a  successive, 
existence ;  but  that  self  or  I,  to  which  they  belong,  is  per- 
manent, and  has  the  same  relation  to  all  the  succeeding 
thoughts,  actions,  and  feelings,  which  I  call  mine.  The 
proper  evidence  I  have  of  all  this  is  remembrance."2 

Experience,  from  the  point  of  view  of  these  lectures,  is 
the  totality  of  what  that  undeniable  self  in  a  man  thinks, 
does,  and  suffers.  It  is  not  necessary  to  determine  whether 
that  is  reality  or  unreality.  We  may  retain  our  different 
convictions  on  that  point.  But  we  know  that  in  a  sense, 
whether  it  be  real  or  whether  it  be  illusion,  experience  is 

i  Max  MClleb,  Theosophy  or  Psychological  Religion,  p.  304. 
2Rexd,  Intellectual  Powers,  Vol.  Ill,  chap.  4. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  61 

something  which  as  men  we  share.  What  is  this  parch- 
ing of  the  throat,  this  aching  of  the  head,  this  shivering 
and  burning  that  racks  the  frame  of  the  fever- stricken,  as 
he  tosses  on  his  couch  through  the  hot  night,  and  waits 
for  the  cool  breathing  of  the  dawn?  It  is  experience. 
What  is  this  sense  of  delight  that  suffuses  eye  and  brain 
and  heart,  as  the  fever-stricken  one  rises  from  the  bed  of 
illness  and  goes  forth  into  the  valleys  of  nature,  where 
flowers  are  springing  and  fountains  are  welling,  and 
shadows  are  tracing  arabesques  on  velvet  lawns,  and  winds 
more  gentle  than  the  music  of  harps  are  playing  celestial 
symphonies  through  groves  of  cedar?  It  is  experience. 
What  is  this  horror  of  great  darkness  that  turns  day  into 
night,  this  pitiless  pang  that  pierces  to  the  dividing  asun- 
der of  soul  and  spirit,  this  sorrow  that  dries  up  the  springs 
of  courage  and  ages  the  heart  between  sunrise  and  sunset, 
when  death,  mocking  at  our  defences  and  heedless  of  our 
fears,  enters  in  to  smite  the  blessed  object  of  our  love? 
Nay,  what  is  love,  and  what  is  service,  and  what  the  pas- 
sionate temptation,  and  what  the  moral  victory,  and  what 
the  aspiration  that  rises  like  a  tide  within  the  soul,  and 
lifts  it,  as  the  ship  is  lifted  on  the  wave,  toward  all  holy 
perfection,  disenthralling  knowledge,  mystical  union  with 
the  life  of  God  ?  It  is  experience.  Call  it  reality,  or  if 
your  philosophical  conviction  be  so,  call  it  illusion;  but, 
real  or  illusory,  it  is  that  which  comes  to  us;  it  is  that 
which  makes  us,  for  better  or  for  worse,  the  men  we  are 
in  this  present  world. 

It  is  with  this  that  I  deal :  first  of  all  as  a  man,  in  lov- 
ing sympathy  with  all  his  brother-men;  then,  as  a  Chris- 
tian, testifying  as  one  who  has  seen,  albeit  dimly,  a  kindly 
light  that  is  shining  for  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world ;  a  gift  misused  by  many  that  claim  to  have  received 


62  Barrows  Lectures 

it,  misunderstood  by  all  that  have  judged  it  in  its  weak 
and  fallible  representatives  rather  than  in  its  inherent 
merit;  a  power  for  inspiration,  purification,  consolation, 
having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  and  of  that  which 
is  to  come. 

The  term  "religious  experience"  would  express  the 
sum  of  effects  realised  through  feeling,  conscience,  reason, 
and  conduct  in  the  self-consciousness  of  the  believer  in  a 
religion.  It  is  quite  unimportant  whether  philosophy  de- 
scribes these  effects  as  real  or  as  illusory.  Apparently 
they  are  realised,  and  the  apparent  realisation  of  them  is 
religious  experience  for  each  individual  who  realises  them 
for  himself.  Here  again  we  all  stand  on  common  ground, 
whatever  our  religion.  The  Mohammedan,  the  Hindu, 
the  Parsi,  the  Jew,  the  Christian  must  have  religious  expe- 
rience ;  for  that  term  connotes  simply  what  his  religion 
contributes  to  his  own  life ;  what  it  means  to  him ;  what  it 
gives  to  him,  be  it  much  or  little.  It  is  religious  experi- 
ence if  it  satisfies  and  stimulates  and  sanctifies  him  as  an 
individual.  It  is  religious  experience  if  it  conveys  to  him 
the  realisation  of  itself  as  truth,  the  very  truth  of  God  for 
him  and  for  all  men.  It  is  no  less  religious  experience  if 
it  fails  to  satisfy  him;  if  it  beckons  him  onward  only  to 
elude  him  when  he  seeks  to  depend  upon  it ;  if  it  discloses 
weaknesses  as  he  investigates  it;  if  it  gives  him  a  stone 
for  bread  when  he  turns  to  it  to  appease  the  cravings  of  his 
spiritual  nature. 

" Christian  experience"  is  a  term  which  describes  the 
totality  of  effects  realised  through  feeling,  conscience, 
reason,  and  conduct  in  the  self -consciousness  of  one  who 
yields  himself  intellectually,  ethically,  and  spiritually  to 
the  ideas  affirmed  in  Christianity.  Christian  experience 
represents  the  religious  value  of  Christianity  for  one  who 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  63 

believes  it ;  that  value  being  regarded  as  subjective  or  rela- 
tive ;  its  value  to  him ;  its  contribution  to  the  completeness 
of  his  life  in  this  present  world  (be  this  present  world  real 
or  illusory).  It  stands  for  the  measure  in  which  Chris- 
tianity makes  life  in  this  present  world  more  worth  living, 
sustaining  it  with  rational  consolations,  enriching  it  with 
productive  ideas,  broadening  it  with  educative  convictions, 
equipping  it  with  social  adaptations,  inspiring  it  with  glori- 
ous hopes.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  offer  the  Christian 
experience  of  any  individual,  for  example  my  own,  as  ob- 
jective evidence  of  the  truth  of  Christianity  as  a  religion ; 
for  the  results  derived  from  experience  are  evidentially 
conclusive  to  him  alone  who  possesses  the  experience ;  the 
evidential  value  for  another  is  strictly  relative;  in  one 
case  it  may  be  great,  in  the  other  case  it  may  be  unim- 
portant. My  ultimate  purpose  shall  have  been  attained 
if  a  recital  of  the  influences  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
feeling,  conscience,  intellect,  and  conduct  of  one  believer 
in  the  essential  conceptions  of  Christianity  shall  lead  to  a 
clearer  apprehension  of  the  religious  importance  and  charm 
of  those  conceptions,  and  shall  awaken  in  some  thoughtful 
heart  a  desire  to  test  for  itself  the  alleged  power  of  those 
conceptions  to  enhance  the  joy  of  a  man's  life  in  this 
present  world,  to  fortify  its  moral  energy,  to  augment  its 
value  as  a  social  force. 

The  two  foundation  principles  on  which  Christianity 
rests  its  appeal  to  the  individual  life  are  its  belief  in  God 
and  its  belief  in  man;  that  is  to  say,  it  believes  in  God  as 
self-conscious,  absolutely  self-determining,  infinite  Per- 
sonality; it  believes  in  man  as  self-conscious,  relatively 
self-determining,  finite  personality.  It  relates  God  to 
man  by  a  method  of  thought  that  suffuses  like  a  luminous 
atmosphere  every  part  of  the  system  of  Christian  belief; 


64  Barrows  Lectures 

a  method  that  is  a  unique  blending  of  three  philosophical 
conceptions.  Christianity  is  not  satisfied  with  the  dualistic 
doctrine  of  a  transcendent  God,  which  would  separate  Him 
from  the  world  and,  by  placing  Him  on  a  throne  in  the 
heavens,  would  give  Him  an  apparent  exaltation,  which 
upon  reflection  is  seen  to  be  actual  limitation.  Yet,  out  of 
transcendence,  Christianity  takes  up  into  its  idea  of  God 
an  element  of  essential  truth  never  to  be  surrendered. 
Nor  is  it  satisfied  with  the  doctrine  of  an  immanent  God, 
present  in  matter  and  in  mind,  coextensive  with  the  uni- 
verse; for  the  immanence  that  is  without  transcendence 
may  become  indistinguishable  from  a  mere  property  of  the 
universe;  limiting  God  in  the  very  act  of  thought  that 
seeks,  and  intends  to  affirm,  infinity.  Yet,  out  of  imma- 
nence Christianity  takes  up  into  its  idea  of  God  an  element 
of  essential  truth  never  to  be  surrendered;  a  truth  that 
fills  the  whole  earth  with  the  fullness  of  Him  that  filleth 
all  in  all.  Nor  is  it  satisfied  with  pure  monism — such 
sincere  and  consistent  monism  as  makes  the  conservative 
school  of  the  Vedanta  pre-eminent  in  the  realm  of  theistic 
speculation;  monism  that  recognises  only  Absolute  Being 
and  denies  the  reality  of  all  individualistic  distinctions. 
For  Christianity  believes  in  man  as  truly  as  it  believes  in 
God;  in  man  as  the  self-fulfilment,  not  the  limitation,  of 
God ;  in  man  as  possessing  that  inherent  finite  self,  through 
which  and  with  which  the  absolute  Self  finds  perfect  ex- 
pression ;  in  man  as  from  God  and  of  God,  yet  separate 
and  inviolable  in  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  real, 
finite  selfhood.  Nevertheless,  out  of  monism,  Chris- 
tianity takes  up  into  its  idea  of  God  an  element  of  essen- 
tial truth  never  to  be  surrendered ;  an  element  that  has 
interpreted  Deity  and  sanctified  humanity.1 

1  Cf.  Illingwokth,  Divine  Immanence,  pp.  69,  70. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  65 

Thus  does  the  Christian  idea  of  God  gather  and  assimi- 
late many  elements.  He  is  trancendent  in  that  eternal 
Selfhood  which  is  independent  of  all  time  and  space  rela- 
tions; in  that  Essence  which  no  man  hath  seen  nor  can 
see;  in  the  movements  of  that  Mind  whose  thoughts  are 
not  our  thoughts,  whose  ways  are  not  our  ways.  He  is 
immanent,  filling  all  things  with  His  Spirit,  realising 
Himself  in  His  works,  living  in  all  that  lives.  Creation 
is  not  a  finished  act  of  the  past,  but  a  continuous  process. 
The  will  of  God  is  the  energy  of  the  universe;  "uniform 
and  permanent  in  quantity,  yet  expressing  itself  in  modes 
of  infinite  variety."1  He  is  one  with  the  individual  soul 
in  an  essential  monism,  for  the  nature  of  man  is  unthink- 
able apart  from  God,  in  whom  we  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being;  the  freedom  of  man  is  God's  freedom  locally 
manifested;  the  individuality  of  man  subsists  in  this,  that 
each  life  is  a  unique  expression  of  the  Divine  energy. 

The  relation  of  this  idea  of  God  to  the  personal  ex- 
perience of  one  who  believes  in  it  is  founded  upon  the 
Christian  conception  of  man  as  a  self-conscious,  free, 
responsible  being.  The  idea  of  God  comes  to  the  indi- 
vidual soul  of  a  Christian  as  an  objective  force  working 
upon  it,  contributing  to  its  life,  influencing  feeling,  guid- 
ing conscience,  suggesting  or  restraining  action ;  because 
a  Christian  thinks  of  himself  as  a  self-determining  per- 
sonality, not  as  the  essence  of  absolute  Being  existing 
under  the  illusion  of  finite  personality. 

For  a  religion  founded  on  a  pure  and  consistent 
theosophical  monism  no  such  experience  as  Christian 
experience  logically  is  possible.  It  cannot  say:  "Because 
God  is  as  He  is,  therefore  I  feel  these  emotions  toward 
Him,   and  am  impelled  to  this  renunciation  or  to  that 

1  Faibbaikn,  Philosophy  of  the  Christian  Religion,  p.  59. 


66  Barrows  Lectures 

act  of  service."  It  cannot  say:  "I  love  God,"  or,  "I 
serve  God,"  or,  "I  aspire  to  be  like  God,"  or,  "My  soul 
is  athirst  for  God."  Such  language  is  unintelligible  in 
the  lips  of  consistent  monism.  What  it  says,  if  consistent 
with  itself,  is:  "I  am  God,  God  is  I;  and  all  this  con- 
fusion of  unbidden  feeling,  and  instinctive  aspiration  and 
yearning  toward  God  is  an  entangling  shroud  of  unreality, 
a  blinding  mist."  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  consistent 
monism  is  unethical,  that  it  has  no  place  for  holy  con- 
duct. Far  be  it  from  me  to  utter  such  folly.  The  ethical 
qualities  of  some  who  have  lived  on  the  highest  levels 
of  monistic  speculation  are  as  conspicuous  as  the  snowy 
summits  of  the  Himalayas.  I  affirm  simply  that  the 
ethical  element  in  pure  monism  differs  from  the  emo- 
tions and  volitions  of  Christian  experience  in  respect  of 
several  interesting  particulars.  In  stating  these  I  am 
drawing  no  invidious  comparisons ;  I  am  seeking  neither 
to  be  a  special  pleader  for  Christianity  nor  to  disparage 
other  faiths.  I  am  not  here  in  the  temper  of  a  critic. 
My  purpose  is  to  analyse  Christianity  in  the  presence  of 
those  who  have  not  adopted  it  as  their  own  faith.  As  a 
Christian  I  am  bound  to  do  this.  A  religion  worthy  of 
consideration  by  thoughtful  minds  should  invite  the 
closest  analysis  of  its  motives. 

I  would  point  out,  then,  that  the  ethics  of  pure  monism 
differs  from  Christian  experience  in  important  particulars 
— namely  in  the  nature  of  its  incentive;  in  the  nature  of 
its  obligations ;  in  the  nature  of  its  satisfaction.  It  differs 
in  the  nature  of  its  incentive ;  the  incentive  of  pure  theo- 
sophical  monism  toward  ethical  feeling  and  conduct  is 
self -deliverance.  "I  am  God;  to  abstain  from  the  world 
and  its  phantasmal  entanglements  hastens  the  deliverance 
of  that  absolute  Being  which  I  am,  from  the  bondage  of 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  67 

illusive  individuality,  from  the  vortex  of  life."  The  in- 
centive of  Christian  experience  toward  ethical  feeling  and 
conduct  is  the  Holiness  of  God;  seen,  adored,  imitated. 
"Be  ye  therefore  perfect  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect."1  Here  the  incentive  to  holiness  is  not 
egoistic.  It  is  an  objective  influence  pervading  the  soul ; 
informing  its  thought,  conforming  it  to  the  Divine  perfec- 
tion. The  incentive  is  not  self -deliverance  from  phantasmal 
bondage.  It  is  the  power  of  the  beatific  vision  of  Divine 
excellence  over  the  reason,  the  conscience,  the  emotions, 
and  the  will  of  the  soul  that  knows  itself,  not  as  God,  but 
as  the  offspring  of  God,  in  whom  the  Eternal  Father 
would  fulfill  Himself,  as  the  earthly  parent  would  fulfill 
himself  in  his  child. 

The  ethics  of  theosophical  monism  differs  from  Christian 
experience  in  the  nature  of  its  obligation,  or  moral  impera- 
tive. The  world  being  unreal,  and  the  end  of  goodness 
being  the  escape  from  unreality  into  absolute  Being, 
goodness  becomes  in  the  individual  a  provisional  expedient 
to  hasten  self-deliverance,  the  value  of  goodness  becomes 
egoistic  and  relative,  a  means  to  an  interested  end;  and, 
conversely,  the  significance  of  non-goodness  also  is 
egoistic:  it  retards  self-deliverance  from  the  vortex  of 
life.  The  moral  obligation  recognised  in  Christian 
experience  is  founded  on  the  absolute  value  of  goodness 
and  the  reality  of  the  finite  self.  "Right  is  right  since 
God  is  God."  The  consistent  Christian  seeks  after  holy 
thought  and  conduct  because  right  and  wrong  are  realities 
of  a  moral  universe,  and  because  the  will  of  God  is 
righteousness.  From  this  root  of  thought  springs  the 
Christian  conception  of  sin,  of  which  I  am  to  speak  in 
my  fourth  lecture. 

i  St.  Matthew  5  :  48. 


68  Barrows  Lectures 

The  ethics  of  monism  differs  from  Christian  experience 
in  the  character  of  the  satisfaction  accompanying  right 
conduct.  That  satisfaction,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  is 
egoistic.  "Since  I  am  God,  if  I  am  holy  I  find  satisfaction 
in  the  promise  of  self-deliverance,  release,  emancipation 
from  illusion."  For  a  soul  of  the  finest  fibre  that  prospect 
of  resolution  into  absolute  Being  must  be  a  vision  of 
delight.  But,  in  Christian  experience,  the  highest  satis- 
faction accompanying  holy  thought  and  right  conduct  is 
the  hope,  if  not  the  consciousness,  of  pleasing  God;  the 
joy  of  doing  the  will  of  God.  If  one  ask:  "Why  is  there 
joy  in  doing  the  will  of  God?"  the  reply  must  involve  the 
philosophical  basis  of  Christianity;  its  doctrine  of  God 
and  its  doctrine  of  man.  God  is  love;  man  is  an  object 
of  that  love.  To  do  the  will  of  God  is  to  answer  love  with 
love ;  and  that  is  joy. 

I  shall  conclude  this  lecture,  and  my  argument  upon 
this  part  of  my  subject,  by  pointing  out  certain  elements 
in  the  content  of  the  Christian  idea  of  God,  and  by  show- 
ing their  religious  value  for  him  who  accepts  them.  That 
conception  of  absolute  Being  which  is  the  goal  of  the 
most  consistent  theosophical  monism  is  reached  by  the 
path  of  negation.  In  words  recently  published  in  India : 
"There  truly  exists  only  one  universal  Being.  It  is  not 
a  thinking  Being,  but  pure  thought.  It  is  absolutely 
destitute  of  qualities,  whatever  qualities  or  attributes  are 
conceivable  can  only  be  denied."1  I  wish  to  express 
my  sense  of  the  intellectual  dignity  of  motive  prompting 
this  method  of  approach  to  the  idea  of  God.  It  represents 
a  lofty  conception  of  the  immensity  of  absolute  Being. 
While  it  may  tolerate  polytheism  as  a  needed  concession 
to  the  conventional  limitations  of  human  thought ;  while 

i  Cf.  Tripathi,  op.  cit. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  69 

it  may  welcome  symbols  as  aids  to  devotion;  while  it  may 
personify  powers  of  nature,  and  invest  those  personifications 
with  individuality ;  its  deeper  instinct  repudiates  the  claim 
to  finality  on  the  part  of  any  of  these,  presses  past  them 
and  all  else  that  would  bind  with  attributes  the  Essence  of 
the  Illimitable;  until  thought,  climbing  above  all  polythe- 
istic distinctions,  spurns  at  length  the  topmost  peak  of 
personality,  and,  spreading  its  wings,  plunges  forth  into 
the  awful  void  of  the  unqualified,  the  impersonal,  the 
ultimate  abstraction. 

Christianity,  climbing  the  same  mountain  of  approach 
to  the  idea  of  God,  stops  not  at  negation,  but  presses  on 
to  affirmation.  Its  objective  is,  not  the  void  of  abstract 
Being,  but  the  fullness  of  perfect  Life.  To  its  thinking, 
the  simplicity  of  the  pure  Abstract  is  not  the  highest 
possible  conception  of  infinity.  For  the  pure  Abstract  is 
without  personal  relations  and  so  without  that  entire  self- 
realisation  which  is  the  measure  of  complete  existence. 
In  the  primordial  forms  of  organic  life,  simplicity  of 
organisation  coexists  with  sluggish  and  rudimentary  self- 
realisation  ;  it  has  few  points  of  contact  with  other  existences. 
In  the  animal  groups,  a  more  complex  organisation  is 
attended  with  a  higher  type  of  self-realisation  and  a  wider 
range  of  external  relationship.  In  man,  with  his  mysterious 
psychic  forces  come  yet  more  marvellous  self-realisations 
and  differentiated  contacts  with  other  existences,  which,  in 
the  highest  types  of  culture,  suggest  foreshadowings  of 
infinity.  So,  God  is  the  fullness  of  perfect  Life,  the 
absolute  Self-realisation;  which  is  in  relation  with  all 
other  existences,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest;  so  that, 
on  the  one  hand,  not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without 
the  Heavenly  Father,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  not  a  human 
spirit    lives   on    the    heights    of   intellectual    and    moral 


70  Barrows  Lectures 

greatness,  or  struggles  in  the  depths  of  ignorance,  pol- 
lution, and  woe,  unrecognised,  unremembered,  unloved, 
unpitied  by  that  All-knowing,  All-sensitive,  All-embracing 
Life. 

Approaching  the  idea  of  God  by  this  path  of  affirmation, 
Christianity  finds  the  content  of  the  idea  rich  beyond 
expression,  and,  in  the  elements  of  that  content  it  finds 
that  which  reacts  upon  experience;  making  life  in  this 
present  world  more  worth  living,  enhancing  its  joys, 
fortifying  its  moral  energy,  augmenting  its  social  force. 
To  exhibit  all  the  elements  realised  by  Christianity  in  the 
idea  of  God,  and  to  show  how  each  of  them  contributes  to 
the  value  of  one's  life  in  this  world,  would  carry  me  quite 
beyond  the  time  limits  of  this  lecture.  I  shall  merely 
name  four  of  these  elements;  briefly  commenting  upon 
the  first  of  them  and  leaving  the  others  to  be  developed  in 
my  next  lecture. 

Timelessness,  presence,  character,  and  manifestation 
are  four  elements  that  enrich  the  content  of  the  Christian 
idea  of  God  and  give  it  a  religious  value  for  the  present 
life  of  each  pilgrim  through  this  world.  If,  as  I  set  forth 
these  elements,  many  who  are  devout  adherents  of  non- 
Christian  faiths  feel  that  I  am  stating  nothing  that  is  not 
fully  understood  by  them  already,  as  being  part  of  their 
belief,  part  of  the  solace  or  the  inspiration  of  their  own 
lives,  I  shall  rejoice.  For  I  have  no  desire  to  claim  for 
Christianity  a  monopoly  of  spiritual  ideas,  or  to  present 
it  as  a  religion  unrelated  to  the  other  forms  of  human 
faith.  No  belief  is  more  dear  to  the  Christian  than  that 
of  the  universal  energy  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  if  at 
many  points  the  paths  of  the  seekers  after  God  converge, 
if  they  who  are  sundered  in  respect  of  some  subjects  of 
belief  are  at  one  in  respect  of  other  subjects,  these  approxi- 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  71 

mations  and  coincidences  bear  witness  to  the  universality 
of  God;  they  prophesy  of  yet  closer  approximations  for 
all  those  whom  His  Spirit  leads. 

Timelessness,  or  freedom  from  the  restrictions  imposed 
by  time  relations,  is  an  element  in  the  idea  of  God  which 
does  for  Christian  experience  what  the  foundation  does 
for  the  house  built  thereon.  As  a  tent  pitched  for  a 
night,  vanishing  at  sunrise ;  a  thing  without  anchorage, 
without  local  continuance;  the  prey  of  the  whirlwind,  the 
load  of  the  pilgrim — such  is  human  life  apart  from  the 
timelessness  of  God.  No  element  in  our  lot  is  more  per- 
plexing than  the  time  relation.  Its  evanescence;  its  pro- 
gression ;  its  momentum ;  its  limitations ;  its  connection  with 
misery  and  happiness;  the  physical  correspondences  of 
our  being  with  the  time  relations  of  birth,  and  growth, 
and  decay,  and  death ;  the  effects  of  time  in  the  world  of 
nature — seedtime  and  harvest,  and  summer  and  winter, 
and  cold  and  heat,  and  day  and  night;  the  time  element 
in  civilisation;  the  ebb  and  flow  of  thought-movement 
from  generation  to  generation — all  this  is  so  inscrutable 
that  many  mighty  thinkers  of  the  ages  have  pronounced 
it  illusion.  Nevertheless  even  as  an  illusion  it  must  be 
reckoned  with  by  man ;  for,  whether  his  finite  self  be  also 
illusion,  or  whether  it  be  real,  so  is  it  made  that  it  knows 
itself  in  these  time  relations  and  conditions  its  present 
life  upon  them.  What  is  hope,  what  is  memory,  what  is 
continuous  volition,  what  is  pain,  what  is  sorrow,  but  an 
aspect  of  individuality  realised  in  time  relations?  "We 
spend  our  years  as  a  tale  that  is  told."1  "What  is  your 
life?"  cries  one  of  the  early  Christian  teachers:  "It  is 
even  a  vapour,  that  appeareth  for  a  little  time  and  then 
vanisheth  away."2     In  youth,  when,  apparently,  a  long 

IPs.  90:9.  2  James  4: 14. 


72  Barrows  Lectures 

bright  day  is  before  one  and  existence  glistens  in  morning 
sunshine,  the  unsubstantial  nature  of  earthly  conditions 
hides  behind  the  optimism  of  unspent  vitality;  but,  as 
the  years  advance  and  changes  multiply,  as  memory 
records  the  names  of  vanished  friends  and  the  history  of 
unfulfilled  ambitions,  unfinished  works,  unenduring  satisfac- 
tions, the  spirit  of  man  cries  out  for  some  solution  of  the 
mystery,  or  for  some  anchor  to  steady  it  in  the  swelling  tide 
of  life.  Nothing  testifies  more  conclusively  to  the  mysterious 
greatness  of  man  than  his  manifold  and  persistent  refusals 
to  be  passive  toward  the  problem  of  time  relations,  as  the 
drift  wood  is  cast  hither  and  thither  upon  the  waste,  or  as 
the  beasts  that  perish  lie  down  and  know  not  that  their 
hour  is  come.  Pessimism  has  its  characteristic  attitude 
toward  time  relations;  the  bitter  protest  against  a  force 
that  turns  life  into  mockery  and  sweeps  it  away  as  a  dream. 
Fatalism  has  its  austere  yet  heroic  doctrine  of  submission 
to  the  inevitable.  Theosophy  utters  its  protest  by  the 
denial  of  reality.  Christianity  takes  refuge  in  the  time- 
lessness  of  God :  "  Lord,  thou  hast  been  our  dwelling- 
place  in  all  generations.  Before  the  mountains  were 
brought  forth  or  ever  Thou  hadst  formed  the  earth  and 
the  world,  even  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  Thou  art 
God.  Thou  turnest  man  to  destruction  and  say  est,  Return, 
ye  children  of  men.  For  a  thousand  years  in  Thy  sight 
are  but  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past,  and  as  a  watch  in 
the  night."  '  The  timeless  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity; 
whose  nature  cannot  be  limited  by  days  and  years ;  whose 
thought  is  knowledge;  with  Whom  is  no  variableness 
neither  shadow  of  turning;  whose  Being  is  absolute; 
whose  name  is  "I  am;"  He  is  the  foundation  on  which 
Christianity  builds  its  doctrine  of  human  life.     "Jehovah 

1  Ps.  90  : 1-4. 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  73 

is  my  Rock,  my  Fortress,  my  Deliverer,  my  God,  my 
Strong  Rock;  in  Him  will  I  trust."1  The  Christian 
realises,  with  all  thoughtful  men,  the  transitoriness  of  life, 
the  illusive  and  subtle  nature  of  time,  the  extraordinary 
limitations  imposed  on  human  action  by  temporal  con- 
ditions; the  pang,  the  peril,  or  the  doom  that  attends  on 
many  vital  interests  because  of  those  conditions;  yet  for 
him  life  is  not  a  painful  illusion,  nor  a  pathetic  mockery, 
nor  an  aimless  mass  of  contingencies.  All  is  steadied, 
unified,  consecrated  by  the  one  great  thought  extending 
beneath  and  binding  together  all  other  thoughts:  the 
timelessness  of  God.  "The  Eternal  God  is  thy  Refuge, 
and  underneath  are  the  Everlasting  Arms."2 

The  timelessness  of  God  means  more  than  that  the 
Almighty  is  emancipated  from  the  bondage  of  time 
relations.  It  means  that  those  conditions  which  man, 
from  his  point  of  view,  describes  as  temporal  condi- 
tions are  a  mode  of  the  divine  Self-fulfillment  and  of  the 
divine  Self-realisation;  that  the  world  is  God's  world, 
in  which,  amid  and  through  all  of  life's  vicissitudes,  the 
Christian  believes  that  God  is  fulfilling  Himself  in  many 
ways: 

He  seems  to  hear  a  Heavenly  Friend, 
And  thro'  thick  veils,  to  apprehend 
A  labour  working  to  an  end.3 

It  means  that  the  persistent  refusal  of  the  human  spirit  to 
recognise  time  conditions  as  the  final  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem of  existence  is  in  man  the  foreknowledge  of  his  own 
eternity,  the  pledge  of  his  own  participation  in  the  Divine 
nature. 

As  the  foundation  to  the  house,  as  the  root  to  the 

1  Ps.  18  : 2.  2  Dent.  33  :  27. 

3  Lord  Tennyson,  "  The  Two  Voices." 


74  Barrows  Lectures 

tree,  so  is  this  conception  of  the  timelessness  of  God  to 
Christian  experience.  It  gives  a  basis  on  which  to  build 
one's  earthly  house  of  life;  even  the  assurance  that  were 
that  house  to  be  dissolved  in  some  whirlwind  of  adverse 
time  conditions,  one  has  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal,  in  the  heavens.  It  gives  an 
anchorage  to  thought,  striking  beneath  the  accidents  of 
the  temporal  and  superficial,  laying  hold  of  the  substance 
of  absolute  Being.  It  gives  a  stability  to  purpose,  relat- 
ing the  deed  of  the  hour  to  the  Eternal  One  in  whose 
name  it  is  done.  It  gives  a  dignity  to  character,  as 
behoves  a  soul  that  knows  its  kinship  with  the  Ever- 
lasting. It  gives  a  hope  for  the  world;  that  that  time- 
less One,  with  whom  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day  and 
one  day  as  a  thousand  years,  holds  in  His  mind  the  key 
to  the  awful  problem  of  human  history ;  that  unto  Him 
the  confusion  of  events,  the  tumultuous  struggles,  the 
silent  sufferings,  the  achievements  of  injustice,  and  the 
haltings  of  righteousness,  are  not  what  they  seem  to  us; 
that  to  His  clearer  vision  the  unfoldings  of  a  benig- 
nant plan  emerge  from  the  darkness,  and  by  His  merci- 
ful hand  the  weakness  and  the  sin  of  man  are  being:  over- 
ruled  for  good. 

Such  is  the  religious  value  of  the  timelessness  of  God 
as  realised  in  Christian  experience ;  such  its  contribution  to 
the  worth  of  existence  in  this  present  world.  When  wearied 
with  the  interminable  detail  of  life  and  its  incessant  repe- 
titions of  unfruitful  effort,  the  Christian  remembers  the 
all-embracing  Perfection  of  the  Divine  Life,  and  knows 
that  the  seed  of  that  completeness  is  planted  in  himself, 
as  the  offspring  of  God.  When  strained  by  sorrow  and 
separation,  the  constant  and  bitter  fruits  of  time  relations, 
he  considers  that  in  the  Presence  of  the  timeless  One  all 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God  75 

God-like  spirits  meet.  When  burdened  with  social  appre- 
hensions, and  oppressed  by  conditions  that  retard  the 
progress  of  good,  he  lifts  up  his  eyes  to  the  hills  whence 
cometh  his  help,  and  reflects  that  the  whole  vexed  problem 
of  civilisation  is  present  to  that  Mind  that  slumbers  not 
nor  sleeps;  and  when,  consecrating  his  powers  unto  right- 
eousness, and  offering  up  himself  unto  Christ  for  such 
brief  service  as  one  life  may  render,  he  remembers  how 
little  one  man  may  do  before  the  night  cometh  when  none 
can  work — there  is  given  him  the  recollection  of  his  own 
kinship  with  God,  and  the  assurance  that  the  Eternal 
can  fulfil  Himself  in  and  through  the  finite  soul. 

Wherever  Christianity  truly  exists,  the  timelessness  of 
God  is  its  perpetual  inspiration.  The  generations  perish, 
but  this  truth  remains  the  same,  yesterday  and  today  and 
forever.  Sorrow  and  joy,  strife  and  peace,  evil  and  right- 
eousness, death  and  life,  may  struggle  together  amid  dis- 
solving time  relations;  but  they  that  take  refuge  in  the 
Eternal  shall  never  be  confounded.  Unto  them  is  it  given 
to  say: 

Our  God,  our  Help  in  ages  past, 

Our  Hope  for  years  to  come, 
Our  Shelter  from  the  stormy  blast 

And  our  Eternal  Home ; 
Under  the  shadow  of  Thy  Throne 

Thy  saints  have  dwelt  secure; 
Sufficient  is  Thine  arm  alone, 

And  our  defence  is  sure. 
Before  the  hills  in  order  stood, 

Or  earth  received  her  frame, 
From  everlasting  Thou  art  God, 

To  endless  years  the  same. 

We  have  advanced  but  to  the  threshold  of  the  Chris- 
tian idea  of   God,     In  my  next  lecture  we  shall  enter 


76  Barrows  Lectures 

within  its  glorious  recesses;  speaking  of  the  Presence  of 
God;  the  Character  of  God;  the  Manifestation  of  God; 
and  viewing  all  in  the  light  of  Him  who  is  the  supreme 
Source  of  all  Christian  experience,  even  as  He  is  the 
supreme  Manifestation  in  time  of  the  timeless  God — the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


THIKD  LECTURE 

THE  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  THE  SUPREME  MANIFESTA- 
TION OF  GOD 

The  close  of  the  last  lecture  found  us  occupied  with 
the  thought  of  God's  independence  of  time-relations,  as 
one  of  the  elements  that  enrich  the  Christian  idea  of  the 
Divine  Being.  Time-relations,  with  their  intricacy  and 
their  necessity,  do  not  condition  the  existence  of  Him  unto 
whom  one  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  a  thousand  years 
as  one  day.  He  is  timeless  in  essence.  Days,  months, 
years ;  seedtime  and  harvest ;  generations,  centuries,  seons, 
are  modes  of  the  Divine  self-realisation  and  self-fulfillment. 
The  Eternal  fulfills  Himself  in  the  temporal,  even  as  the 
Invisible  fulfills  Himself  in  the  visible.  The  contribution 
to  Christian  experience  made  by  this  thought  already  has 
been  indicated.  It  adds  to  the  worth  of  life,  making  pos- 
sible intelligent  effort  and  rational  hope.  It  is  the  back- 
ground whereon  the  mental  eye,  strained  by  the  illusive- 
ness  of  finite  existence,  rests  and  recovers.  It  is  the 
threshold  whereon  the  Christian  enters  into  the  glorious 
recesses  of  the  idea  of  God.  Crossing  now  that  threshold, 
hallowed  by  the  feet  of  innumerable  multitudes  of  Chris- 
tians, and  also  of  those  that  acknowledged  not  the  Chris- 
tian name,  yet  most  truly  were  seekers  after  God,  may  we, 
as  brethren,  look  on  three  elements  of  that  fullness  which 
Christianity  finds  in  the  content  of  the  idea  of  a  supreme, 
absolute,  timeless  Being:  the  Presence  of  God,  the  Char- 
acter of  God,  the  Manifestation  of  God. 

The  timelessness  of  God,  His  transcendence  of  tem- 
poral relations,  becomes  to  the  Christian  a  foundation  and 

77 


78  Barrows  Lectures 

a  background  for  living,  because  the  conception  of  time- 
lessness  is  realised,  not  by  itself  alone,  but  in  association 
with  other  aspects  of  being.  Timelessness,  abstracted 
from  intelligent  life,  conveys  to  the  finite  mind  nothing 
essentially  strengthening  or  reassuring.  Mere  independ- 
ence of  time  conditions  is  not,  in  itself,  a  quality  having 
religious  value.  A  barren  rock,  standing  in  nakedness 
within  the  wilderness,  may  outlast  a  thousand  generations ; 
yet  has  it  no  message  of  comfort  for  the  soul  of  man. 
The  persistence  of  inorganic  matter  mocks  at  the  evanes- 
cence of  humanity,  when  one  looks  upon  palace  and  fort- 
ress, built  in  pride  and  self-confidence  by  those  who  for 
centuries  have  slept  in  indistinguishable  dust.  The  fact 
that  God's  life  is  not,  as  our  own,  confined  within  the 
bounds  of  days  and  years,  means  nothing  that  adds  value 
to  our  existence,  until,  seen  in  the  light  of  some  other 
aspect  of  His  being,  it  becomes  related  to  us. 

That  relationship  is  established  through  the  thought 
of  the  presence  of  God.  The  timeless  One  whose  essence 
cannot  be  bound,  who  inhabiteth  eternity,  is  in  His  world 
and  in  every  creature.  Christianity  conceives  that  abso- 
lute, timeless  life  as  everywhere  present.  The  sense  of 
that  all-pervading  immanence  finds  expression  both  in  the 
ancient  Scriptures  and  in  the  later  minds  that  have  had 
heavenly  enlightenment. 

Whither  shall  I  go  from  Thy  Spirit? 

Or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  Thy  Presence? 

If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  Thou  art  there  ; 

If  I  make  my  bed  in  Sheol,  behold,  Thou  art  there. 

If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning 

And  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea, 

Even  there  shall  Thy  hand  lead  me, 

And  Thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me. 


Jesus  CJi7'ist  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God       79 

Such  are  the  words  of  a  Psalmist  dear  to  Christians.1 
And  these  are  the  words  of  an  Apostle :  "The  fullness  of 
Him  that  filleth  all  in  all."2  These  ancient  utterances  are 
echoed  by  later  words  that  enter  far  into  the  conception 
of  the  presence  of  God  : 

I  have  felt 
A  presence  that  disturbs  me  with  the  joy 
Of  elevated  thoughts  ;  a  sense  sublime 
Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused, 
Whose  dwelling  is  the  light  of  setting  suns, 
And  the  round  ocean  and  the  living  air, 
And  the  blue  sky,  and  in  the  mind  of  man : 
A  motion  and  a  spirit,  that  impels 
All  thinking  things,  all  objects  of  all  thought, 
And  rolls  through  all  things.3 

It  will  be  perceived  by  my  learned  hearers  that  these 
expressions  assume  not  only  the  presence  of  God,  but  the 
reality  of  the  world  pervaded  by  His  presence.  This  is 
characteristic  of  Christianity,  and  the  effects  of  this  view 
of  the  world  upon  the  Christian's  sense  of  the  value  of 
living  will  be  revealing  themselves  continuously  as  my 
argument  proceeds. 

To  avoid  misapprehension,  a  brief  account  should  be 
given  here  of  the  nature  of  that  reality  which  Christianity 
attributes  to  the  external  world.  It  is  a  middle  view 
between  illusion  and  materialism.  On  the  one  hand, 
Christianity  does  not  regard  the  external  world  as  illusion, 
in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  so  regarded  by  pure  theosophical 
monism.  It  believes  in  the  reality  of  the  individual  and 
of  the  world  in  which  he  lives ;  and  while  recognising  that 
the  intention  of  a  doctrine  of  illusion  may  be  to  exalt  the 
oneness   of   absolute   being   by   denying   the   reality   of 

l Ps.  139  : 7-10.  «Eph.  1:23.  3 Wobdswobth,  "Prelude." 


80  Barrows  Lectures 

individualistic  distinctions,  Christianity  holds  that  the 
existence  of  individualistic  distinctions  does  not  invade 
the  integrity  of  absolute  being,  but  provides  it  with  a 
necessary  field  for  self-expression.  Therefore  Christianity 
cannot  regard  the  external  world  as  illusion.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  does  not  affirm  reality  in  a  materialistic  sense. 
Materialistic  realism  gives  to  the  external  world  of  matter 
objective  and  independent  reality  apart  from  the  action  of 
mind.  It  makes  the  world  real  in  its  own  right  and  by 
its  own  initiative ;  separating  the  reality  of  matter  from 
mind,  and  so  separating  the  external  world  from  God.  It 
exists  apart  from  God,  and  may  exist  without  Him.  Thus 
two  principles  are  introduced  into  the  universe — a  spiritual 
principle  and  a  material  principle,  existing  in  mutual  inde- 
pendence. And  when  the  materialist,  shunning  the  idea 
of  dualsm,  undertakes  upon  a  monistic  basis  to  account 
for  what  is,  mind  becomes  the  mere  property  of  an  objec- 
tively real  world  of  matter.  Between  these  extremes  stands 
the  temperate  idealism  of  Christianity.  To  it  God,  and 
self,  and  the  world  are  real ;  but  the  world  is  real  to  the 
individual  only  as  his  thought,  his  spiritual  self,  appre- 
hends it ;  even  as  the  waves  of  ether  are  not  light  save  to 
the  eye  that  receives  them.  And  the  universe  is  real  only 
in  that  its  processes  and  parts  are  known,  co-ordinated, 
and  controlled  through  one  Intelligence  pervading  all, 
working  through  all,  realising  itself  in  all.  "He  is  before 
all  things  and  by  Him  all  things  consist."1  The  unity 
of  life  is  the  self-realisation  of  the  Infinite  Mind,  in  and 
through  all  that  is. 

It  is  upon  this  basis  that  the  presence  of  God  within 
the  world  becomes  an  essential  element  of  thought  and 
the  whole  earth  is  filled  with  God.    Yet  this  is  not  panthe- 

l  Col.  1 :  17. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God       81 

ism,  the  presence  of  impersonal  force — or  the  presence 
of  abstract  thought  as  distinguished  from  thinking  being. 
It  is  the  presence  of  self-conscious,  self-determining 
Intelligence,  fulfilling  itself  in  and  through  all  that  is,  by 
virtue  of  its  existence  as  infinite.  This  presence,  which 
fills  nature,  fills  also  the  life  of  man,  since  man  is  a  part 
of  nature.1 

It  cannot  be  otherwise,  by  virtue  of  God's  Infinity. 
He  that  is  all  in  all  must  be  in  all  that  is.  To  say  this  is 
not  to  deny  the  reality  of  finite  selfhood.  The  finite  self 
is  real;  and  not  only  real,  but  necessary,  that  the  Divine 
Subject  may  have  self-expression  through  the  human 
object.  In  this  real  self  of  man  God  is ;  and  His  presence 
is  the  basis  of  spiritual  potency  in  human  life.  It  may  or 
it  may  not  be  that  conscience  is,  as  Wordsworth  said, 
"God's  most  intimate  presence  in  the  soul;1'  but,  though 
the  mystery  of  the  Divine  in  man  transcends  complete 
analysis  and  definition,  the  fact  of  that  presence  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  Christian  thought. 

O  Lord,  Thou  hast  searched  me  and  known  me, 

Thou  understandest  my  thought  afar  off, 

Thou  searchest  out  my  path  and  my  lying  down; 

And  art  acquainted  with  all  my  ways, 

For  there  is  not  a  word  in  my  tongue 

But  lo,  O  Lord,  Thou  knowest  it  altogether.2 

The  effects  of  this  belief  on  those  who  cherish  it  add 
greatly  to  the  worth  of  life  in  this  world.  The  presence 
of  God  is  the  consecration  of  nature.  None  can  deny  the 
magnificence,  the  power,  the  marvellousness  of  nature. 
Whatever  our  philosophy,  our  eyes  are  open  and  we  see 
that  the  world  is  great.  How  subtle  are  its  processes  of 
evolution,  growth,  reproduction,  transformation;  how 
enormous  are  its  resources: 

i  Cf.  Illingworth,  Divine  Immanence,  p.  74.  2  ps.  139  : 1-4. 


82  Barrows  Lectures 

The  precious  things  of  heaven;  the  dew; 

The  deep  that  coucheth  beneath; 

The  precious  things  of  the  fruits  of  the  sun; 

The  precious  things  of  the  growth  of  the  moons ; 

The  chief  things  of  the  ancient  mountains; 

The  precious  things  of  the  everlasting  hills ! ' 

How  superb  is  His  workmanship:  the  burnishing  of  the 
wings  of  birds ;  the  indenting  of  the  leaves  of  trees ;  the 
fashioning  of  gems  in  the  earth ;  the  correlation  of  organs 
in  the  body  of  man.  Physical  science  apprehends  these 
properties  of  nature  and,  with  delight,  investigates  and 
classifies  them.  But  what  shall  be  done  with  nature 
itself?  Shall  this  magnificence,  this  power,  this  profusion, 
this  subtle  accuracy  of  procedure,  this  masterful  work- 
manship, be  reduced  to  illusion  and  swept  into  the  abyss 
of  the  unreal  ?  Or  shall  it  be  made  a  self- producing  power 
apart  from  God,  a  self-sufficient  eternal  principle,  a  self- 
sustaining,  materialistic,  non-intelligent  potency  ?  Chris- 
tianity answers:  Not  illusion,  and  not  self-propagating 
force,  is  the  secret  of  this  wondrous  world  of  nature,  but 
conscious,  free  Intelligence  exerting  itself  and  fulfilling 
itself  in  the  myriad  forms  and  forces  of  terrestrial  life. 

Thou  Who  hast  given  me  eyes  to  see 

And  love  this  sight  so  fair, 
Give  me  a  heart  to  find  out  Thee 

And  read  Thee  everywhere.2 

The  presence  of  God  is  deliverance  from  the  lone- 
liness of  finite  personality.  There  is  no  loneliness  like 
that  of  the  human  spirit  driven  in  upon  itself  by  the 
elusiveness  of  the  external.  The  psychic  solitude  deepens 
as  culture  and  self-knowledge  quicken  the  sensitiveness 
of  our  inner  life.     The  world,  absorbed  in  its  own  pursuits, 

i  Dect.  33  :  13, 14. 

2  Keble,  "  The  Christian  Year,"  a  hymn  for  Septuagesima  Sunday. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God       83 

neither  knows  us  as  we  are  nor  cares  for  us.  Friendship 
may  go  with  us  for  a  season,  but  reaches  soon  the  point 
where  it  can  advance  no  farther,  and  pauses,  leaving  us  to 
pass  alone  within  the  shadows  of  our  personality.  The 
solitariness  of  the  soul  sometimes  is  most  awful;  in  the 
crowd  of  lives  Individuality  is  everywhere,  yet  none  that 
can  interpret  to  us  our  aspirations,  nor  guide  us  in  our 
gropings,  nor  help  us  when  the  mystery  of  living  bows  us 
to  earth.  Who  can  wonder  that  many  great  souls,  driven 
in  upon  themselves  by  the  pressure  of  the  external,  have 
sought  to  identify  themselves  with  the  absolute  Soul  of 
the  universe  as  the  one  reality  in  a  world  of  illusion;  or 
that  others,  doubting  even  the  reality  of  God,  have  held 
that  the  one  remedy  for  life's  insufferable  loneliness  lies 
in  the  extinction  of  all  selfhood  in  the  selfless  silence  of 
Nirvana.  The  Christian,  driven  in  upon  himself  by  the 
same  pressure,  a  stranger  to  his  own  kindred,  craving 
sympathy  for  sorrows  that  he  cannot  express,  groping  for 
light  on  problems  that  he  cannot  formulate,  withdraws 
into  the  sanctuary  of  his  inner  life,  not  to  meet  there  a 
mocking  void  with  hollow  echoes  of  his  own  questionings, 
but  to  find  the  presence  of  One  "unto  whom  all  hearts  are 
open,  all  desires  known,  and  from  whom  no  secrets  are 
hid,"  and  to  hear  a  Voice,  divinely  wise,  humanly  tender, 
saying:  "Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."1 

The  presence  of  God  gives  rational  continuity  to 
individual  life  and  to  the  life  of  the  world.  Look  down 
into  some  great  garden  when  the  white  summer  clouds  are 
flitting  across  the  sun.  Behold  a  thousand  shadows  coming 
and  vanishing  on  the  lawns — each  an  illusion,  completed 
by  its  instantaneous  appearance,  without  relation  to  aught 

1  Matt.  11 :  28. 


84  Barrows  Lectures 

that  may  precede  or  follow,  leaving  no  trace  upon  the 
substantial  earth.  So  human  thought  and  action,  and  the 
succession  of  lives  and  the  train  of  generations,  have  seemed 
to  some  as  shadows,  following  each  other  in  incalculable 
succession;  completing  themselves  by  their  illusory 
appearances;  leaving  no  trace;  establishing  no  relations; 
fulfilling  no  end.  If  mortal  life  be  only  this,  the  play  of 
unrelated  shadows  on  the  field  of  being,  if  there  be  no 
underlying  meaning,  no  subliminal  purpose  fulfilling  itself 
in  this  world,  then  indeed  is  it  more  wise  to  believe  illusion 
with  its  inseparable  doom  of  sadness  than  to  affirm  reality ; 
for  reality  emptied  of  purpose  is  more  awful  than  illusion. 
But  to  the  Christian  the  presence  of  God  supplies  .a 
principle  that  justifies  belief  in  reality  and  in  continuity, 
for  the  individual  and  for  the  world.  The  immanent  God, 
intelligent,  self-conscious,  self -determining,  encircles  and 
conditions  all  that  is.  Beneath  the  fitful  play  of  circum- 
stances, beneath  the  shadow-dance  of  impulse  and  accident, 
the  timeless  One  fulfills  Himself  through  time.  To  that 
all-comprehending  Mind  each  human  life  has  meaning ;  in 
His  thought  each  fills  a  place  not  filled  by  another.  God 
is  intelligence.  God  is  purpose.  "The  counsel  of  the 
Lord  standeth  forever,  the  thoughts  of  His  heart  to 
all  generations."1  It  is  worth  while  to  live  this  mortal 
life,  for  the  presence  of  the  Infinite  gives  it  continuity 
and  meaning.  It  is  worth  while  to  have  hope  for  the 
world,  for  the  purpose  of  the  Infinite  unfolds  beneath  the 
stumblings  of  nations,  the  abuse  of  power,  the  lack  of 
social  love.  It  is  worth  while  to  pray:  "Thy  Kingdom 
come.     Thy  Will  be  done."2 

The  presence  of  God,  like  the  timelessness  of  God, 
makes  these  contributions  to  the  worth  of  life  only  because 

IPs.  33:11.  2 Matt.  6:10. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God       85 

the  Christian  apprehends  that  presence  not  by  itself  alone, 
but  in  association  with  other  aspects  of  being.  Mere 
timelessness  may  be  a  thought  as  barren  as  the  naked  rock 
in  the  wilderness;  so  also  the  mere  presence  of  infinite 
intelligence,  apart  from  its  self-realisation  in  moral  love- 
liness, may  intensify,  not  alleviate,  the  sorrow  of  life.  If 
we  affirm  the  existence  of  the  Infinite  Mind,  and  conceive 
it  not  in  the  appropriate  vesture  of  beautiful  character, 
life  for  the  individual  becomes  more  acutely  pathetic.  For 
his  sufferings  are  witnessed  by  a  mind  that  knows  and 
pities  not ;  his  struggles  by  an  intelligence  that  considers 
not ;  his  aspirations  by  a  being  that  offers  no  ethical  ideal. 
It  is  easier  to  suffer  in  solitude  than  in  the  presence  of 
one  who  knows  yet  cares  not.  The  presence  of  God,  as 
an  element  in  the  idea  of  the  Divine  being,  gives  sacred- 
ness,  consolation,  and  hope  to  Christian  experience  because 
the  character  of  God  as  conceived  by  Christianity  is  what 
it  is.  It  becomes  blessed  to  know  that  the  presence  of 
God  fills  all  life  because  the  moral  qualities  of  that 
presence  are  what  they  are.  In  speaking  of  the  character 
of  God  I  trust  that  I  shall  say  much  that  coincides  with 
the  belief  of  many  of  my  brethren  who  are  not  Christians. 
I  have  no  desire  to  claim  for  Christianity  a  monopoly 
of  truth  and  excellence,  nor  to  set  the  excellences  of 
Christianity  in  competition  with  the  excellences  of  other 
faiths.  Wherever  I  find  the  ground  covered  by  Chris- 
tianity covered  also  by  the  tenets  of  another  religion, 
I  rejoice;  for  nothing  I  believe  more  devoutly  than  that 
the  Spirit  of  the  One  God  is  universal,  working  in  the 
manifoldness  of  grace  when  and  where  and  as  He  will. 
I  am  setting  forth  the  Christian  faith  in  detail,  that  these 
points  of  correspondence  with  other  faiths  may  appear 
wherever   they    exist,   and    that,  if   there    be    any  truth 


86  Barrows  Lectures 

peculiar  to  Christianity  which  is  capable  of  being  shared 
by  all  men,  it  may  be  known  and  appropriated  by  all  and 
not  monopolised  by  a  few. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  charm  of  Christianity  centres 
in  the  character  of  God.  His  timeless  being,  His 
intelligent  presence,  are  mighty  thoughts ;  yet  would  they 
be  barren  and  comfortless  in  their  austere  magnificence 
were  they  not  clothed  with  moral  qualities  that  invite  our 
confidence  and  attract  our  love.  To  set  forth  the  elements 
of  God's  character  as  Christianity  conceives  them  would 
require  more  time  than  I  can  command ;  but,  as  mirrors 
transmit  suggestions  of  broad  landscapes,  so  would  I  hold 
before  you  two  expressions  of  Christian  faith  in  which  are 
mirrored  the  beauties  of  the  Character  of  God.  "God  is 
Light."1     "God  is  Love."2 

I  rejoice  to  think  that  Christians  are  not  alone  in 
conceiving  God  under  the  symbol  of  light.  It  would  give 
me  no  pleasure  to  feel  that  they  alone,  of  all  the  seekers 
after  Him,  had  perceived  the  value  of  this  symbol  as  a 
means  of  expressing  certain  elements  in  the  being  of  God. 
For  light,  in  its  gladness  and  glory,  belongs  to  all  men. 
The  sun,  rising  in  majesty,  scattering  the  night  shadows, 
burning  away  noxious  mists,  revealing  beauty,  assisting 
growth,  is  for  all  the  children  of  men.  In  our  common 
possession  of  this  central  source  of  vitality  we  are  all 
children  of  light.  Nothing  is  more  natural  than  that 
light  should  be  taken  up  into  religious  thought  as  a 
symbol  of  God.  Nothing  is  more  splendid  in  the  whole 
range  of  religious  expression  than  some  ascriptions  of 
praise  to  God  as  light,  arising  from  non-Christian  sources. 
"I  believe,"  says  one  of  the  Zarathushtrian  prayers,  "I 
believe  Thee  to  be  the  best  Being  of  all;  the  Source  of 

I I  John  1:5.  21  John  4  :  8. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God       87 

light  for  the  world.  Everyone  shall  believe  in  Thee  as  the 
Source  of  light.  Thou  Greatest  all  good  true  things  by 
means  of  the  power  of  Thy  good  mind.  Thou  givest  with 
Thy  hand,  filled  with  helps,  good  to  the  righteous  man,  as 
well  as  to  the  wicked,  by  means  of  the  warmth  of  the  fire 
strengthening  the  good  things."1  It  is,  then,  in  no  spirit 
of  superiority,  but  rather  in  the  spirit  of  fellowship,  that 
I  point  out  how,  in  Christian  thought,  the  beauties  of  the 
character  of  God  are,  in  part,  mirrored  in  the  phrase,  God 
is  light. 

But,  for  every  mind  that  uses  light  as  a  symbol  of  God, 
the  symbol  is  individualised  by  what  it  signifies,  by  the 
specific  connotations  that  attend  it.  It  becomes  therefore 
a  matter  of  common  interest  to  members  of  all  religions 
in  whose  thought  the  light  symbol  assists  the  conception 
of  God,  to  enquire  of  the  Christian:  "  What  do  you  mean 
when  you  say,  'God  is  light'  ?  What  connotations  has 
the  symbol  for  your  mind?" 

Assuming  that  I  am  asked  this  question,  I  reply: 
Light  has  at  least  three  distinct  connotations — physical, 
intellectual,  ethical.2 

Physical  light  is  inseparable  from  suggestions  of  joy, 
satisfaction,  refreshment.  (Of  course  we  must  not  press 
the  symbolism  too  far,  for  none  knows  better  than  an 
Oriental  the  wearisome  glare  of  light  in  a  rainless  summer, 
or  the  refreshment  of  darkness  falling  down  upon  over- 
strained eyelids.)  The  intuitive  associations  of  the  mind 
with  physical  light  are  well  put  forth  in  a  certain  very 
ancient  saying:  "Light  is  sweet,  and  a  pleasant  thing  it 
is  for  the  eyes  to  behold  the  sun."3  Physical  light  associ- 
ates itself  with  thoughts  of  glory:  the  play  of  sunshine  on 

i  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  Vol.  XXXIII,  p.  98. 

2  Cf.  Westcott,  Epistles  of  St.  John,  p.  16.  3  Eccl.  11 : 7. 


88  Barrows  Lectures 

the    glittering    sea;    the    flashing    peaks    of    snow-clad 
mountains  ;  the  hues  of  flowers  and  birds  and  gems  ; 

The  splendid  scenery  of  the  sky, 
Where,  through  a  sapphire  sea,  the  sun 
Sails  like  a  golden  galleon.1 

Physical  light  associates  itself  with  vision.  The  eye 
is  the  correlate  of  light.  In  the  idealistic  philosophy, 
which  refuses  to  admit  a  self-sufficient  existence  to  matter 
apart  from  mind,  light  is  not  light  apart  from  the  property 
of  visibility.  The  essential  property  of  light  is  to  disclose 
itself,  to  make  itself  seen;  even  as  the  essential  property 
of  sound  is  audibility,  to  make  itself  heard. 

Intellectual  light  suggests  whatsoever  is  free  from 
ignorance,  dullness,  error,  falsehood ;  whatsoever  is  actual, 
according  to  reality,  of  the  truth,  truth  itself.  Intellectual 
light  connotes  knowledge,  spreading  its  broad  rays  through 
the  avenues  of  the  knowable  world,  discerning  the  rela- 
tions of  things,  dispersing  shadows,  illuminating  hidden 
paths.  Intellectual  light  stands  for  self-knowledge  ;  for 
the  mind  shining  upon  itself ;  for  the  perfection  of  wis- 
dom ;  for  inerrant  judgment ;  for  the  identification  of 
truth  with  self. 

Ethical  light  stands  for  righteousness,  clear,  radiant  as 
the  sun  at  noonday ;  separated  from  all  false  lights ; 
steadfast ;  incapable  of  misleading  ;  without  partiality ;  a 
pure  whiteness,  blended  of  all  moral  perfections ;  the 
glory  of  goodness  ;  the  beauty  of  holiness. 

In  each  of  these  connotations — physical,  intellectual, 
ethical — light  becomes  for  the  Christian  a  symbol  of  the 
character  of  God.  As  physical  light  suggests  outshining 
glory  and  splendour,  so  that  Infinite  One  is  clothed  upon 
with  the  glory  of  personal  character.     He  is  not  imper- 

i  Longfellow,  "A  Day  of  Sunshine." 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God       89 

sonal  force,  a  theoretical  factor  in  the  problem  of  existence. 
He  is  Spirit,  endued  with  distinctive  qualities  of  radiant 
perfection.  "O  my  God,"  cries  one,  "Thou  art  very 
great ;  Thou  art  clothed  with  honour  and  majesty ;  who 
coverest  Thyself  with  light  as  with  a  garment."1  God  is 
intellectual  light.  No  veils  enwrap  the  Infinite  Mind.  He 
sees  things  as  they  are.  "All  things  are  naked  and 
opened  before  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to 
do." 2  "  In  Him  is  no  darkness  at  all." 3  In  Him  knowledge 
has  no  element  of  uncertainty,  no  alloy  of  errour ;  it 
transcends  time-relations,  it  is  conterminous  with  all  that 
is,  even  with  Himself ;  it  is  Truth.  God  is  moral  light. 
Injustice,  unfaithfulness,  are  not  in  Him.  He  is  upright. 
"Righteousness  and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of  His 
Throne."*  His  thought,  His  purpose,  His  will,  are  notes 
of  ethical  completeness.  God  is  holiness.  God  is  good- 
ness. And  as  it  is  of  the  nature  of  light  to  shine,  so  this 
splendour  of  intellectual  and  moral  light  that  invests  the 
character  of  God  is  expressive,  tends  to  manifestation. 
God  is  what  He  is,  not  for  Himself  alone.  He  is  Light  in 
the  expressiveness  of  His  being,  that  He  may  be  known. 
Because  He  is,  He  shines,  and  men  live  in  His  light.  All 
true  knowledge  emanates  from  Him:  "In  Thy  Light  shall 
we  see  light."5  All  human  excellences  are  rays  from  that 
central  Sun.  It  was  a  true  instinct  that  led  a  great  uni- 
versity of  Europe  to  take  for  its  legend  Dominus  Illumi- 
natio  Mea. 

The  beauty  of  the  character  of  God  is  reflected  in 
another  expression  that  is  a  fundamental  part  of  the 
Christian  idea  of  the  Divine  Being:  God  is  Love.  Here 
also  I  have  no  desire  to  assume  that  the  association  of 

IPs. 144:1, 2.  2Heb.4:13.  3iJ0hnl:5. 

*Ps.97:2.  5Ps.  36:9. 


90  Barrows  Lectures 

love  with  the  character  of  God  is  peculiar  to  Christianity. 
I  make  no  such  assumption.  If  others  have  found  their 
way  to  the  heart  of  the  Eternal,  and  have  felt  it  "most 
wonderfully  kind,"  it  is  the  greater  joy.  But  it  involves 
no  injustice  to  the  belief  of  any  to  say  that  the  history  of 
religion  is  dark  with  deities  with  whom  it  was  impossible 
for  the  mind  to  associate  love.  Have  there  not  been 
among  men  conceptions  of  deity  embodying  every  quality 
that  could  antagonise  and  defeat  love?  Have  not  men 
worshipped  gods  that  rioted  in  lust  and  debauchery  and 
sport;  or  revelled  in  bloodshed,  and  battle;  or  terrorised 
with  the  scourge  of  fear;  or  slept  in  serene  abstraction 
whilst  hearts,  bowed  with  their  burdens,  torn  with  their 
sorrows,  tormented  with  their  sins,  cried  out  for  pity  and 
received  no  answer?  If,  by  a  figure  of  speech,  we  may 
imagine  religions  helping  one  another,  as,  often  and  ten- 
derly, it  is  the  privilege  of  individuals  to  do,  in  what  bet- 
ter way  could  Christianity  serve  other  faiths  than  by 
bringing  forth  her  most  cherished  belief  that  God  is  love  ? 
This  is  the  heart  of  Christianity,  its  most  central  and 
esoteric  truth :  God  is  love.  While  the  influences  emanat- 
ing from  it,  like  the  far-spreading  beams  of  sunlight, 
touch  with  gladness  and  warm  with  vitalising  force  the 
whole  expanse  of  Christian  belief;  this  truth  itself,  like 
the  sun,  burns  with  an  insufferable  glory  that  blinds  the 
eye  essaying  to  pierce  its  depth.  The  mystery  of  Chris- 
tianity finds  its  focus  in  this  truth:  God  is  love.  For 
these  words  imply  more  than  the  kindly  disposition  of 
God  toward  man.  Back  of  all  questions  involving  rela- 
tionship to  man ;  back  of  all  time-relations ;  in  the 
timeless  essence  of  that  Life  which  is  self-conscious,  self- 
determining  intelligence,  God  is  love.  To  affirm  what  this 
implies  is  impossible  until  we  reflect  on  the  nature  of  love. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God      91 

Love  is  the  affection  of  one  for  another.  Love  is  a  rela- 
tion of  subject  and  object.  Love  is  the  outgoing  of  ten- 
der thought,  seeking  response,  and  finding  completion 
through  response.  If  God  in  His  timeless  essence  is  love, 
and  if  love,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  involves  subject 
and  object  and  self-completion  through  response,  then 
the  Divine  Essence  must  contain  within  itself  personal 
distinctions  whereby  love  is  realised.  In  the  timeless 
essence  of  pure  and  holy  intelligence,  love  is  the  very  life 
of  God ;  the  relationship  that  binds  in  one  ineffable  Unity 
the  self -realising,  self -satisfying  Personal  Distinctions — 
God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  This 
mystery  is  the  heart  of  Christianity ;  this  is  its  most  cen- 
tral and  esoteric  truth:  God  is  love.  Love  is  of  God. 
Its  fountain  and  origin  are  in  Him.  As  one  finds  the 
mighty  river  of  the  plains  pouring  through  the  throngs 
of  human  life,  attracting  towns  and  villages  to  its  margin, 
permitting  familiar  and  friendly  uses,  conveying  refresh- 
ment and  fertility ;  and  as  one  traces  back  its  course  until 
the  mystery  of  its  primal  spring  is  hidden  in  the  silence 
of  the  everlasting  hills;  so  love,  holy  love,  the  greatest 
blessing  of  human  life,  the  river  of  consolation  whose 
channel  should  plough  the  arid  plain  of  existence,  and 
bring  coolness  and  cleanness  and  hope  to  every  home  and 
heart — love  is  of  God.  Its  source  is  not  on  earth,  a  thing 
of  time,  to  come  and  pass  away.  It  is  in  the  mystery  of 
Infinite  Being ;  in  the  depths  of  God ;  in  the  self-realising, 
self-completing  Oneness  of  Him  who  reveals  Himself  to 
our  finite  understanding  as  the  Father,  the  Son,  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

As  this  love,  whose  primal  spring  is  in  the  Essence  of 
Godhead,  emerges  into  time-relations  and  pours  itself  upon 
the  life  of  man,  it  expresses  the  attitude  of  God  toward 


92  Barrows  Lectures 

humanity.  God  is  love  in  His  own  self-sufficient  essence. 
God  is  love  in  His  attitude  toward  man.  That  self-expres- 
sion of  tenderness,  of  holy  affection,  which  completes  itself 
through  the  Personal  Distinctions  within  the  Godhead,  in 
ways  incomprehensible  by  us,  utters  itself  in  ways  that 
man  can  understand,  as  the  Infinite  Mind,  moving  within 
time-relations,  discloses  its  purpose  toward  humanity. 
The  heart  of  man  has  been  slow  to  believe  the  simple  propo- 
sition that  God  is  love.  There  have  been  occasional  ap- 
proximations thereto;  clear-eyed  seers  have  arisen  from 
time  to  time,  to  whom  came  the  vision  of  love,  and  the  con- 
ception of  a  God  yearning  toward  man.  The  leaders  of 
Judaism  saw  glimpses  of  a  gracious  and  fatherly  heart,  yet 
was  their  vision  limited  by  an  hereditary  nationalism  that 
set  off  Israel  from  the  world  as  the  favourite  of  God,  the 
distinctive  object  on  which  His  affection  expended  itself; 
while  for  the  Gentiles  was  reserved  wrath  against  the  day 
of  wrath. 

Apart  from  these  occasional  approximations,  the  heart 
of  man,  throughout  the  long  and  impressive  evolution  of 
religion,  has  hesitated  to  launch  itself  in  unreserved  confi- 
dence upon  the  ocean-like  thought  that  God  is  love.  We 
cannot  wonder  at  the  hesitation,  for  the  thought  of  original, 
Divine  love  is  tremendous  to  the  verge  of  incredibility. 
And  even  within  the  bounds  of  Christianity  that  hesitancy 
has  asserted  itself  in  very  striking  ways.  An  unprejudiced 
study  of  the  history  of  religion  suggests  the  opinion  that 
the  religious  conclusion  to  which  man  is  most  reluctant  to 
commit  himself  is  that  God  is  love,  and  that  God's  attitude 
and  relation  to  man  are  the  attitude  and  relation  of  love. 
Apparently  it  has  not  been  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  supreme 
power  in  the  terms  of  impersonal  force  or  principle,  sub- 
sisting without  purpose  under  all  forms  of  life.     Nor  has 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God      93 

it  been  difficult  to  believe  in  an  absolute,  self-sufficient 
being,  the  only  Reality,  impassive,  expressionless,  hidden 
for  a  season  under  the  veil  of  illusion,  which  in  the  end 
shall  be  dissolved,  leaving  the  undisturbed  Absolute.  Nor 
has  it  been  difficult  to  believe  in  a  multiplicity  of  gods, 
whether  ultimate  in  themselves,  or  manifold  provisional 
expressions  of  the  one  Ultimate  Reality ;  gods  with  many 
functions,  beneficent  or  destructive,  touching  human  life 
at  every  point,  and  requiring  at  human  hands  forms  of 
service.  Along  these  several  lines  the  faith  of  immense 
multitudes  has  been  given  with  sincerity. 

The  history  of  religion  shows  also  a  disposition  to 
conceive  of  God's  attitude  to  man  as,  antecedently,  un- 
friendly or  malevolent,  or  whatsoever  is  the  reverse  of 
love  ;  and  to  condition  religion  on  the  fundamental  ground 
of  propitiating  unfriendly  Deity,  averting  malevolent 
intention,  appeasing  wrath,  winning  favour  and  love  by 
acts  of  sacrifice  and  devotion.  I  speak  with  the  greatest 
reverence  of  this  type  of  religious  feeling,  which  has 
entered  largely  into  the  experience  of  the  race,  and  from 
which  Christians  by  no  means  are  exempt.  I  am  not  here 
to  criticise  any  who  thus  have  judged  of  God,  and  whose 
religious  life  has  built  itself  on  the  presupposition  of  a 
malevolent  or  angry  or  indifferent  deity,  who  must  be 
appeased  with  sacrifices,  or  whose  love  must  be  stimulated 
with  gifts.  Perhaps  it  is  inevitable  that,  in  the  evolution 
of  human  thought,  these  conceptions  of  God  shall  occur. 
There  are  conditions  incident  to  all  lives  that  make  them 
probable.  We  all  are  liable  to  confuse  the  terms  of  the 
problem  of  human  personality.  If  we  merge  our  per- 
sonality in  the  Personality  of  God,  then  trouble,  sorrow, 
need,  being  illusions,  are  matters  of  indifference  to  God. 
He  cares  not  that  we  seem  to  suffer.     If  we  separate  our 


94  Barrows  Lectures 

personality  from  God,  not  remembering  that  He  is  our 
Father  and  that  His  life  completes  itself  in  us,  then  that 
instinctive  dread  which  in  every  age  makes  weakness 
shrink  in  the  presence  of  power,  enters  into  our  concep- 
tion of  Deity,  investing  it  with  terrifying  attributes,  and 
suggesting  the  impulse  to  avert  trouble  by  propitiating 
its  author. 

All  of  us  alike  are  facing  the  problem  of  evil,  "the 
supreme  enigma  of  the  universe ;  the  formidable  obstacle 
to  moral  trust  in  the  power  continuously  working  in  the 
world."1  Animal  suffering,  human  pain,  errour  with  its 
pitiful  consequences,  violations  of  morality  against  which 
conscience  protests,  acts  inconsistent  with  eternal  moral 
obligation,  death  which  cruelly  separates  persons  united 
in  social  fellowship — these  are  evils  which  seem  at  variance 
with  a  Divine  order,  with  our  ideal  of  love  and  justice,  and 
with  omnipotent  moral  integrity.  In  the  face  of  these 
things,  how  can  one  wonder  at  the  sadness  of  religion,  the 
hopelessness  of  many  of  its  expressions,  the  remoteness  of 
man  from  God,  the  atmosphere  of  pessimism,  the  longing 
to  escape  from  the  intolerable  illusion  of  living  ?  These 
emotions  are  involuntary ;  nay,  they  are  reasonable,  if  no 
word  has  been  spoken  out  of  the  depths  of  Infinite  Being 
to  deny  the  terrific  inference  that  all  things  are  as  they 
are  because  God  would  have  it  so ;  or  because  God  is 
malevolent  and  will  pursue  men  with  evil  until  they  turn 
and  worship  him ;  or  because  God  is  indifferent,  enwrapt 
in  the  serenity  of  abstract  existence,  caring  not  that  the 
creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain. 

Christianity  believes  that  that  word  has  been  spoken; 
it  is,  God  is  love.  In  the  mystery  of  His  essence  He 
realises   love    through    personal    distinctions   within    the 

i  Cf.  Fraseb,  Philosophy  of  Theism,  Vol.  II,  pp.  153-60. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God      95 

Godhead — distinctions  that  are  dimly  conceivable  by  us 
in  the  terms  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  Moving  in 
time-relations,  He  realises  love  in  His  attitude  and  dispo- 
sition toward  man,  in  the  outgoings  of  holy  affection,  in 
the  tenderness  of  holy  sympathy,  in  the  yearning  of  holy 
desire,  in  the  exertion  of  holy  influence,  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  holy  purposes. 

God  is  love !  That  love  is  original  in  God,  springing 
out  of  the  depths  of  His  own  being.  It  is  not  stimulated 
by  an  antecedent  act  of  man.  It  is  not  purchased  by 
gifts,  nor  attracted  by  sacrifices.  Love  in  man  is  not  the 
cause,  but  the  consequence,  of  the  love  of  God.  "We 
love,  because  he  first  loved  us.'11 

God  is  love  !  That  love  is  universal.  The  Jew,  true  to 
his  Semitic  tradition,  conceived  of  God  as  a  national  God, 
and  of  his  love  as  a  special  boon  of  Israel.  But,  in  the 
fullness  of  time,  that  limitation  fell  away.  Love  was 
manifested  in  world-relations.  Its  inclusive  breadth 
acknowledged  no  exceptions.  It  overflowed  all  tribal  and 
national  limits.  It  took  no  account  of  race  lines.  It 
overpassed  ecclesiastical  and  religious  boundaries.  It 
asked  not  whether  man  loved  in  return.  It  embraced  the 
world,  saying:  "I  will  draw  all  men  unto  Myself!"2 

God  is  love !  That  love  is  personal.  It  is  the  love  of 
a  Divine  Heart  for  each  human  heart ;  the  appreciation  by 
an  Infinite  Mind  of  the  thoughts,  desires,  hopes,  sorrows, 
of  every  human  mind.  It  is  the  Infinite  realising  itself 
in  the  finite  in  the  terms  of  love. 

This,  as  I  have  said,  is  the  heart  of  Christianity,  its 
most  central  and  esoteric  truth.  Light  and  love  describe 
the  character  of  God.  Of  such  a  nature  is  the  Presence 
that  pervades  the  world.     Such  qualities  clothe  with  per- 

1 1  John  4  :  19.  2  John  12  :  32. 


96  Barrows  Lectures 

sonality  that  timeless  Essence  of  infinite  life,  "who  is 
before  all  things  and  by  whom  all  things  consist."1 
Christianity  faces  with  all  other  faiths  the  problem  of 
evil.  With  them  she  feels  the  prevalence  of  suffering, 
the  immensity  of  wrong,  the  conflict  of  interests,  the 
shadow  of  death  ;  for  her,  as  for  others,  the  mystery  of 
pain  hangs  like  a  veil  over  life ;  yet,  hope,  and  not 
despair,  is  the  spirit  of  Christianity ;  a  hope  that  suffering 
and  wrong  and  death  cannot  abolish  or  destroy;  a  hope 
that  is  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  sure  and  steadfast, 
entering  into  that  within  the  veil.  That  hope  lays  hold 
of  the  character  of  God.  Life  is  mystery  and  life  is 
sorrow.     God  is  Light  and  God  is  Love. 

Evidently  such  a  faith,  for  those  who  are  able  to 
commit  themselves  to  it,  carries  with  it  a  possible  con- 
tribution to  the  worth  of  life,  in  this  present  world,  which 
may  be  described  as  of  the  highest  importance.  It  offers 
a  steadfast  object  upon  which  to  look  amidst  the  shifting 
phases  of  existence  and  by  which  to  resist  the  paralysing 
influence  of  pessimistic  depression.  Bewilderment  gives 
place  to  rational  conviction.  God  no  longer  remains  a 
blank  enigma  of  malevolence  or  indifference,  nor  life  a 
chaos  of  confused  adversities.  Not  less  may  be  the  burden 
of  trouble,  not  lighter  the  yoke  of  care,  but  the  mind  has 
a  basis  for  thinking  and  the  heart  a  resting-place.  It 
offers  a  channel  for  pent-up  affections  of  the  soul.  Man 
was  made  for  God,  and  with  capacity  to  love  God.  Great 
as  is  his  potency  for  earthly  love,  and  for  realising  self- 
sacrifice  on  behalf  of  others  (and  in  this,  permit  me  to  say, 
some  beautiful  Hindu  lives  have  been  pre-eminent),  there 
is  in  him  a  capacity  for  loving  the  Divine  that  exceeds 
even  his  power  to  love  the  human.     The  deepest  emotional 

l  Col.  1:17. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God      97 

possibility  of  the  soul  is  love  for  God.  That  love,  like  all 
other  love,  inhabits  the  inner  consciousness,  imprisoned, 
unrealised,  until  the  vision  of  God  awakens  and  liberates 
it.  He  to  whom  God  is  impersonal  force,  or  impassive 
mind,  or  malevolent  will,  may  believe  and  tremble  ;  he 
cannot  love.  But  when  the  character  of  the  Eternal  One 
appears,  vested  in  light  as  in  a  garment  warm  with  love, 
the  answering  potency  of  love  within  the  heart  of  man  is 
kindled  and  goes  forth  to  God. 

I  shall  ask  you  now  to  observe  that  the  two  subjects 
which  have  occupied  me  in  this  lecture — the  presence  of 
God  and  the  character  of  God — rest  upon  a  third  subject 
which  is  the  base  of  the  whole  structure  of  Christian 
belief.  That  base  is  the  Manifestation  of  God.  The 
conception  of  God  as  a  presence,  and  the  conviction  that 
that  presence  is  invested  with  moral  character  of  light 
and  love,  rest  upon  the  belief  that  God  manifests  Himself. 
The  thought  of  the  manifestation  or  self-revelation  of 
Deity  is  not  peculiar  to  Christianity.  It  forms  an  impor- 
tant and  effective  part  of  other  faiths.  No  idea  is  more 
familiar  to  my  Indian  auditors  than  that  of  divine  embodi- 
ment; of  gods  coming  down  to  earth  in  the  likeness  of 
men,  or  of  men  exalted  to  divine  rank  and  invested  with 
the  insignia  of  gods.  The  range  of  this  idea  in  the  field 
of  Eastern  religious  thought  is  too  vast  to  be  reviewed  at 
this  time,  and  too  well  understood  to  require  a  restate- 
ment by  me.  I  shall  content  myself  with  an  expression 
of  satisfaction  that,  in  claiming  the  idea  of  the  manifesta- 
tion of  God  as  the  base  of  the  whole  structure  of  Chris- 
tian belief,  I  claim  nothing  in  itself  unfamiliar  to  my 
auditors  or  alien  to  their  intellectual  instincts.  While 
the  development  of  this  idea  along  Christian  lines  leads 
to  conclusions  which,  if  admitted,  will  modify  the  religious 


98  Barrows  Lectures 

thought  of  the  East  and  conduct  it  to  a  new  point  of  view, 
the  thesis  that  the  Supreme  Being  manifests  Himself  is 
common  ground. 

The  manifestation  or  self -revelation  of  Deity  is  open  to 
two  dissimilar  interpretations.  It  may  be  regarded  as 
apparent  rather  than  real;  as  a  part  of  the  phenomenal 
and  illusory  order  of  the  external  universe,  occurring  as  a 
concession  to  man's  limited  condition,  rather  than  the  out- 
come of  metaphysical  relations  inherent  in  the  very  life 
of  God.  In  the  Gita1  Krishna  is  represented  as  account- 
ing for  his  incarnation  on  the  ground  of  emergencies  in 
human  affairs:  "As  often  as  there  is  a  decline  of  virtue  or 
an  increase  of  vice  in  the  world,  I  create  myself  anew; 
and  thus  I  appear  from  age  to  age,  for  the  preservation  of 
the  just,  the  destruction  of  the  wicked,  the  establishment 
of  virtue."  So  also  when  one  considers  the  whole  subject 
of  polytheism,  it  appears  as  a  system  for  popular  use ;  an 
adaptation  of  religion  to  the  craving  of  the  average  heart 
for  some  sort  of  manifestation  of  God;  a  concession  to 
man's  need,  rather  than  the  outcome  of  metaphysical 
necessity  in  the  nature  of  Deity.  And,  in  support  of  this 
feeling,  we  find  higher  intellects  soaring  above  polytheis- 
tic manifestations  as  things  to  be  discarded  by  the  enlight- 
ened soul,  which,  esteeming  itself  to  be  identical  with  the 
one  Unmanifested  Self,  seeks  the  realisation  of  that 
identity  by  devotion  to  knowledge.  Such  is  one  interpre- 
tation of  the  Supreme  Being  manifesting  Himself.  The 
occasion  for  manifestation  is  emergency  in  human  life, 
and  manifestation  is  concession  to  that  emergency,  by 
means  of  incarnation ;  the  taking  on  of  a  human  body. 
However  beautiful  or  effective  these  incarnations  may 
be,  they  are  the  expression  of  nothing  in  the  nature  of 

1  Cf.  IV,  7,  8;  Slatee,  Higher  Hinduism,  p.  137. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God       99 

God  that  demands  self-manifestation  in  order  to  its  own 
completeness.  The  conception  of  God  remains  as  com- 
plete without  these  manifestations  as  with  them,  for  God, 
in  the  last  analysis,  is  impersonal,  undifferentiated  being  ; 
solitary;  self -identical;  unqualified;  the  final  Result  when 
all  personal  distinctions  have  been  eliminated. 

I  cannot  point  out  too  distinctly  that  this  method  of 
interpreting  the  manifestation  of  God  is  not  the  method 
of  Christianity.  In  Christian  thought  the  manifestation 
of  God  is  not  primarily  an  expedient  adopted  as  a  con- 
cession to  the  ignorance  of  man;  it  is  the  outcome  of 
relations  inherent  in  the  life  of  God.  There  is  a  self- 
revealing  principle  in  the  Nature  of  God  without  which 
He  would  not  be  God.  Self-revelation  is  not  a  disclosure 
of  personality  extorted  from  God  by  external  occurrences 
or  forces.  It  is  not  an  afterthought  occasioned  by  the 
decline  of  virtue  or  the  increase  of  vice  in  the  world. 
Self -revelation  occurs  in  the  nature  of  personality.  God 
is  necessarily  self -revealing  because  God  is  truly  personal. 
We  have  seen  that  Christian  thought  reaches  its  idea  of 
God  not  finally  by  the  path  of  negation,  by  eliminating 
individualistic  distinctions,  by  seeking  an  unqualified 
Absolute  that  shall  be  emptied  of  content ;  but  by  affirma- 
tion, by  enriching  the  Absolute  with  all  possible  qualities 
consistent  with  moral  perfection.  And  we  have  seen  that 
Christian  thought  conceives  personality  as  self-realisation 
through  relations  with  other  existences,  and  judges  that 
God  would  be  less  than  human  unless  His  being  involved 
such  self-realisation.  It  is  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the 
Divine  Personality,  in  what  I  have  called  the  most  esoteric 
truth  of  Christianity,  that  the  conception  of  a  self -mani- 
festing God  finds  its  source.  The  Essence  of  God  is  not 
abstract,  undifferentiated  being — being  from  which  have 


100  Barrows  Lectures 

been  eliminated  the  marks  of  personality,  and  in  which 
abides  only  the  passive  blessedness  of  pure  thought.  The 
Essence  of  God  is  life,  realising  its  Godhead  through 
Personal  Distinctions,  which,  whatever  else  they  may 
connote  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Divine  Intelligence, 
interpret  themselves  to  us  in  the  terms,  "God  the  Father," 
"God  the  Son,"  "God  the  Holy  Spirit."  In  that  mystery 
is  the  Divine  Personality.  Therein  God  knows  in  Himself 
Subject  and  Object.  Therein  love  is  born.  The  Father 
loveth  the  Son ;  the  Son  loveth  the  Father.  Thereby, 
God  is  love. 

But  perfect  self-realisation  on  the  part  of  God  demands 
other  existences  than  Himself,  that  He  may  complete 
Himself  in  and  through  them.  There  is  a  sense,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  which  man  is  necessary  to  God.  The 
existence  of  real,  finite  intelligence  is  denied  on  the  ground 
that  to  admit  this  reality  would  be  to  limit  the  Infinite. 
But  I  have  shown  that  in  Christian  belief  the  reality  of 
finite  intelligence  is  essential  to  the  infinity  of  the  Infinite ; 
that  God  would  be  limited  if  there  were  no  finite  beings 
to  whom  He  could  give  Himself  in  an  expression  of  that 
love  which  is  inherent  in  His  personality.  As  light  is 
only  ether-waves,  and  not  light  until  it  be  correlated 
with  the  eye  that  receives  it,  so  God  is  not  all  that  God 
'may  be  until  with  His  infinite  personality  we  correlate 
finite  personality,  to  receive  His  revelation.  The  mani- 
festation of  God,  therefore,  is  no  concession  to  an  emer- 
gency, no  belated  afterthought  in  the  halting  order  of 
Providence.  It  occurs  in  the  nature  of  the  case.  It  is 
as  normal  in  God  as  needful  for  man.  It  is  the  seal  and 
attestation  of  the  metaphysical  unity  of  existence. 

The  manifestation  of  God  enriches  Christian  experi- 
ence, adds  to  the  value  of  life,  and  justifies  belief  in  its 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     101 

reality  by  revealing  the  presence  and  by  interpreting  the 
character  of  God.  The  moral  value  of  manifestation  de- 
pends on  the  significance  of  that  which  is  manifested. 
By  "manifestation"  I  do  not  mean  wonder- workings,  to 
astonish  the  ignorant,  appall  the  superstitious,  or  amuse 
the  curious.  I  mean  self-revelation  for  moral  ends.  The 
ominous  play  of  lightning  on  the  evening  clouds,  and  the 
phosphorescent  flashes  in  the  unresting  ocean,  are  types 
of  much  that  in  the  history  of  religion  has  diverted  atten- 
tion from  the  deeper  aspects  of  Divine  manifestation  to 
its  superficial  details.  The  eyes  of  men  have  been 
dazzled  by  the  miraculous,  and  blinded  to  the  enormous 
spiritual  truths,  in  comparison  with  which  miracles  are 
incidental,  if  not  unimportant.  Passing  by  the  subject  of 
miracles,  as  one  not  requiring  discussion  in  this  connec- 
tion, and  permitting  myself  to  say  only  that  I  believe  in 
miracles,  while  not  regarding  them  as  the  chief  creden- 
tials of  Christianity,  and  not  esteeming  them  as  in  any 
sense  more  divine  than  the  common  and  ordinary  opera- 
tions of  God,  I  shall  speak  only  of  the  moral  significance 
of  God's  self -manifestation,  as  it  is  apprehended  by  Chris- 
tian belief  and  treasured  in  Christian  experience. 

The  manifestation  of  God  is  the  self -revelation  of  His 
presence  and  of  His  character.  It  is  not  necessary  that 
the  curiosity  of  man  shall  be  stimulated  by  the  wonder- 
plays  of  gods,  nor  his  imagination  fed  with  theistic 
romances;  but  from  the  Christian  point  of  view  it  is 
necessary  that  man  shall  realise  God's  presence  and  shall 
know  God's  character.  *'He  that  cometh  to  God,"  said 
one,1  "must  believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a 
re  warder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him."  And  these 
two  necessities  that  condition  spiritual  religion  in  man 

iHeb.  11:6. 


102  Barrows  Lectures 

correspond  to  those  metaphysical  relations  in  God  which 
make  His  self-manifestation  an  integral  part  of  His  per- 
sonality. The  infinite  self-realisation  involves  relation 
with  the  finite  intelligence ;  that  relation  becomes  possible 
only  as  God  discloses  His  presence  and  His  character. 
For  man  cannot  relate  himself  to  a  being  of  whose  exist- 
ence he  is  unconscious,  nor  love  a  being  of  whose  character 
he  has  no  conception.  In  all  this  I  have  no  doubt  that  I 
have  the  intellectual  approval  and  the  spiritual  consent  of 
many  of  my  learned  hearers  who  are  non-Christian;  and 
now,  as  in  the  remainder  of  this  lecture  I  pourtray  that 
which  is  most  distinctively  Christian  in  connection  with 
the  Divine  manifesting  of  presence  and  of  character,  I 
would  speak  so  guardedly  that  the  faith  I  profess  may 
truly  be  uttered;  so  humbly  that  intense  conviction  may 
not  be  mistaken  for  arrogant  assertion;  so  lovingly  that  I 
may  retain  the  confidence  of  those  who  reject  my  con- 
clusions; so  clearly  that  the  intrinsic  reasonableness  of 
Christianity  may  awaken  in  some  minds  a  disposition  to 
give  it  more  careful  examination. 

I  have  said  that,  in  Christian  thought,  the  manifesta- 
tion of  God  consists  in  the  self-revelation  of  His  presence 
and  of  His  character.  The  manifestation  of  His  presence 
is  made  through  nature,  through  history,  through  the 
spiritual  illumination  of  man.  The  manifestation  of  His 
character  is  made  in  the  Person  and  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  manifestation  of  the  presence  of  God  is  made 
through  nature.  So  Christ  affirms,  speaking  as  a  Re- 
vealer :  ' '  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow ;  they 
toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin:  and  yet  I  say  unto  you  that 
even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of 
these.     Wherefore,  if  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field, 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     103 

which  today  is  and  tomorrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  He 
not  much  more  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little  faith  ? " l  Such 
was  His  teaching,  antedating  natural  science,  and  boldly 
committing  Christianity  to  the  conception  of  a  Deity  im- 
manent in  nature  and  expressing  Himself  through  nature. 
In  the  intellectual  upheavals  of  modern  times  many  cher- 
ished opinions  concerning  the  material  world  have  been 
swept  away,  and  every  physical  problem  has  required 
restatement  in  the  terms  of  evolution — a  principle  toward 
which  the  far-seeing  wisdom  of  the  Upanishads  pointed. 
The  earlier  view  of  instantaneous  creation  has  vanished ; 
the  whole  conception  of  the  method  of  material  progress 
has  altered;  yet  the  Christian  belief  that  God  abides  in 
nature  and  is  operative  perpetually  therein  has  but  taken 
on  richer  and  more  permanent  form  through  the  unfold- 
ings  of  evolutionary  science.  So  far  from  the  scientific 
position  being  incompatible  with  the  Christian  position  as 
regards  Divine  manifestation  through  nature,  the  concep- 
tion of  the  physical  universe  as  "not  a  finished  product, 
but  a  continuous  natural  process,''  and  of  creation  as  "not 
a  sudden  event,  but  a  divinely  determined  evolution,1'2  is 
that  one  which  most  fully  expresses  the  Christian  idea  of 
self-revelation  through  nature,  even  as  also  it  is  that  which 
makes  it  possible  for  a  man  of  science  to  be  a  man  of 
Christian  faith  also. 

The  manifestation  of  the  presence  of  God  is  made 
through  history.  All  thoughtful  minds  have  pondered 
the  problem  of  history,  seeking  some  intelligible  solu- 
tion. The  stream  of  events  rolling  through  the  cen- 
turies, the  rising  and  falling  of  nations,  the  genesis  and 
development  of  beliefs,  the  counterpoise  of  social  forces, 

1  Matt.  6  :  28-30. 

2  A.  Cambell  Feazeb,  Philosophy  of  Theism,  Vol.  II,  p.  83. 


104  Bawoivs  Lectures 

the  struggles  and  sorrows  of  humanity,  present  conditions 
too  vital  to  be  ignored.  For  many  great  minds  illusion 
is  the  only  adequate  solution  of  the  problem  of  history: 
one  long  troubled  dream  fretting  the  surface  of  the  uni- 
versal mind,  yet  stirring  not  its  depths;  one  vast  mirage 
playing  harmlessly  above  the  ocean  of  impassive  being. 
Others  have  interpreted  the  problem  of  history  in  the 
terms  of  fatalistic  necessity:  all  things  moving  on  in  a 
fixed  order,  an  inevitable  sequence;  independent  of 
causes;  without  reason;  without  purpose;  without  pity. 
Others  have  sought  the  clue  to  the  mystery  in  a  high  pre- 
destinarianism,  that  lodged  all  causation  in  the  inscrutable 
will  of  God — a  will  that  acts  on  a  rational  basis,  yet 
veils  its  reasons  from  human  eyes,  leaving  no  freedom 
to  the  will  of  man.  Others,  rejecting  the  theory  of 
Divine  will,  and  oppressed  by  the  reality  of  life  and  the 
cumulative  sorrow  of  humanity,  have  found  in  philo- 
sophical pessimism  the  gloomy  pathway  to  a  doctrine  of 
despair.  The  Christian  beholds  in  history  the  presence 
of  God.  Believing  in  the  reality  of  events  and  persons, 
intuitively  certain  of  the  freedom  of  the  will,  while 
acknowledging  its  limitations,  the  Christian  sees  in  the 
outgoings  of  history  and  behind  the  volitions  of  free  beings 
the  movement  of  God's  hand,  the  purpose  of  God's  mind. 
He  believes  that  the  life  of  the  race  is  neither  illusion 
nor  chaos ;  neither  the  phantasmal  play  of  unrealities  nor 
the  aimless  impacts  of  irrational  forces;  but  rather  a  field 
of  action  whereon  free  and  rational  spirits  exercise  the 
rights  of  individuality,  in  the  pursuits  of  good  and  evil, 
beneath  the  overruling  providence  of  a  God  who  is  light 
and  who  is  love,  and  who  in  His  own  way  and  time  is 
accomplishing  for  the  world  a  purpose  "too  great  for 
haste,"  and  wrought  out  by  men  for  men.     The  Christian 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     105 

sees  mind  and  purpose  operating  in  all  history  —  in  the 
history  of  the  physical  world,  of  science,  of  civilisation, 
of  government,  of  religion.  He  believes  in  the  providence 
of  a  good  God,  seeking  spiritual  ends  and  paternal  in  its 
quality  —  a  wise,  kindly,  faithful  administration  of  moral 
government ;  a  plan  of  God.1  Everywhere  the  fulfillment 
of  that  gracious  plan  is  being  retarded  by  the  sin  and 
selfishness  and  ignorance  of  man.  Enormous  barriers  of 
unrighteousness  resist  it,  ancient  systems  of  oppression 
hide  it  from  the  suffering  ones  for  whom  it  is  meant.  But, 
dark  and  difficult  as  is  the  riddle  of  history,  tremendous 
the  delay  of  good  and  the  advance  of  evil,  cruel  as  are 
the  alienations  of  races,  and  pitiful  the  sufferings  of  the 
weak,  Christianity  sees  the  purpose  of  the  Eternal  mov- 
ing through  time,  and  knows  that,  though  the  day  of  the 
Lord  tarry,  nevertheless  it  shall  come  at  last ;  when  right- 
eousness shall  triumph,  and  oppression  shall  be  shattered; 
when  the  sorrows  of  hearts  shall  be  comforted,  and  the 
Will  of  God  shall  be  done.  It  is  that  sense  of  God's 
presence  in  history  that  rescues  Christianity  from  pessi- 
mism, and  puts  a  new  song  in  its  mouth  —  a  song  of  hope 
for  the  oppressed,  of  courage  for  the  reformer: 

Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord; 
He  is  trampling  out  the  vintage  where  the  grapes  of  wrath  are 

stored; 
He  hath  loosed  the  fatal  lightning  of  His  terrible  swift  sword; 

His  truth  is  marching  on! 
He  has  sounded  forth  the  trumpet  that  shall  never  call  retreat; 
He  is  sifting  out  the  hearts  of  men  before  His  judgment  seat; 
Oh!  be  swift  my  soul  to  answer  Him;  be  jubilant  my  feet; 

Our  God  is  marching  on ! 2 

The  manifestation  of  the  presence  of  God  is  made 
through  the  spiritual  illumination  of  man.     I  rejoice  to 

1  Cf.  Clarke,  Outline  of  Christian  Theology,  6th  ed.,  p.  147. 

2  Julia  Ward  Howe,  "  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic." 


106  Barrows  Lectures 

think  that  the  idea  of  the  Divine  abiding  in  the  heart 
of  man  is  one  of  the  favourite  religious  conceptions  of 
the  Upanishads.1  It  has  been  pointed  out  by  Professor 
Deussen  of  Kiel,2  that  Indian  philosophy  took  its  course 
uninfluenced  by  western  Asiatic  and  European  thought ; 
and  that  because  of  this  independence,  wherever  iden- 
tical conceptions  appear  in  the  thought  of  East  and  West, 
the  presumption  in  favour  of  their  absolute  truth  approxi- 
mates to  certainty.  Nothing  is  more  real  to  the  Christian 
than  the  sense  of  the  indwelling  Presence  manifesting 
itself  in  the  illumination  of  the  understanding,  the  com- 
munication of  influence,  the  revelation  of  truth.  God  is 
the  Spirit,  the  Holy  Spirit,  making  Himself  known  to  us, 
not  by  the  outward  signs  only,  but  by  inward  assurances 
and  inward  gifts.  "The  Spirit,"  says  St.  Paul,3  "beareth 
witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  children  of  God." 
The  reasonableness  of  this  inward  manifestation  is  founded 
on  our  conception  of  the  unity  of  personal  existence. 
The  apprehension  of  the  external  and  visible  occupies 
but  a  part  of  consciousness.  The  apprehension  of  sub- 
jective conditions  and  experiences  is  a  field  of  observation 
more  extensive,  even  more  trustworthy. 

It  is  not  as  a  pantheist  that  the  Christian  conceives  of 
the  Indwelling  Presence,  although  much  that  pantheism 
has  said  on  this  subject  could,  with  slight  modification,  be 
translated  into  the  characteristic  language  of  Christianity. 
The  separateness  of  personal  individuality  is  essential  to 
the  Christian  idea,  although  the  kinship  of  the  human 
spirit  with  the  Divine  is  not  only  admitted,  but  held  as 
the  necessary  protection  against  dualism.     It  is  by  virtue 

1  Cf.  Slatee,  The  Higher  Hinduism,  p.  152. 

2  Cf.  Indian  Antiquary,  previously  quoted. 

3  Bom.  8:16. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God    107 

of  this  community  of  spiritual  essence,  this  correspondence 
of  nature,  that  the  presence  of  God  has  disclosed  itself  to 
the  experience  of  men.  It  has  made  itself  felt  from  the 
beginning  in  that  universal  yearning  toward  the  Infinite 
which  is,  I  believe,  the  most  fundamental  fact  in  religion. 
This  correspondence  of  nature  between  God  and  man  is 
the  channel  of  revelation.  Through  this  channel  truth 
has  come  from  God  to  man.  Through  this  channel  not 
only  has  the  Love  of  God  projected  helpful  influences,  but 
the  Intelligence  of  God  has  communicated  knowledge  not 
otherwise  accessible ;  making  individual  persons  the  recipi- 
ents of  these  communications  that  they  in  turn  might 
announce  them  to  others.  Truth  so  communicated  is 
revelation.  It  is  not  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity that  any  should  claim  for  it  a  monopoly  of  revela- 
tion, or  deny  that  God  has  communicated  also  with  the 
seers  and  prophets  of  other  religions.  To  claim  that  the 
Bible  contains  the  totality  of  revealed  truth,  and  that  God 
has  not  communicated  with  the  seers  of  other  faiths,  would 
be  an  act  of  bigotry  indefensible  on  philosophical  and 
moral  grounds.  Not  only  would  such  a  claim  be  incapable 
of  proof,  but  it  would  be  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity, which  is  not  provincial  and  exclusive,  but  universal 
and  assimilative. 

The  true  Christian  spirit  neither  claims  nor  desires 
monopoly  of  revealed  truth.  It  believes  (in  the  recent 
words  of  an  English  scholar)  that  "the  history  of  religion 
is  the  history  of  the  gradual  revelation  to  man  of  the 
Divine  will."  It  rejoices  in  the  thought  that  all  men 
everywhere  share  a  spiritual  nature  capable  of  receiving 
communications  from  God;  and  that  the  One  God  who 
loves  all  men  alike,  and  desires  that  all  shall  come  to  the 
knowledge  of   the   truth,  everywhere   is   working   upon 


108  Barroivs  Lectures 

human  spirits  for  good,  and  through  all  ages  has  made 
special  lives  the  depositaries  of  such  truths  as  they  were 
able  to  receive.  As  it  acknowledges  the  evolutionary 
method  as  the  method  of  God  in  Nature  and  in  History, 
it  is  prepared  to  see  the  same  method  employed  in  Revela- 
tion ;  and  to  honour  all  the  religious  experience  of  the  race 
as  contributory  to  the  one  final  end  of  revelation,  the  full 
knowledge  of  the  presence  and  character  of  God.  In  this 
evolutionary  order  of  Divine  self-disclosure  comes  at  length 
that  great  sequence  of  communications  made  to  the  Jewish 
branch  of  the  Semitic  stock,  consummated  in  the  teachings 
of  Christ  and  the  inspired  Apostles,  and  recorded  in  the 
collection  of  books  known  as  the  Bible.  The  significance 
of  these  communications  was  not  national,  but  universal. 
The  distinctive  relation  of  them  to  the  Jews  was  incidental 
and  provisional.  They  were  the  monopoly  of  no  nation, 
of  no  continent,  of  no  race.  They  were  not  committed  to 
the  interpretations  of  any  one  system  of  philosophy,  occi- 
dental or  oriental.  They  were  to  be  the  theological 
shibboleth  of  no  party,  the  ecclesiastical  badge  of  no  sect, 
the  political  engine  of  no  government.  They  were  world- 
utterances,  designed  to  fill  up  that  which  was  lacking  in 
all  religions;  to  gather  together,  co-ordinate,  and  give 
common  expression  to  the  total  religious  spirit  of  the 
human  race.  They  were  to  be  a  well  of  water  set  in  the 
open  plain  of  humanity,  springing  up  unto  everlasting 
life,  for  all,  of  every  name,  who  should  come  and  drink ; 
a  common  doorway  opened  in  the  elemental  structure  of 
things,  through  which  all  nations  and  kindreds  and  peoples 
and  tongues  should  advance  to  larger  life,  and  better  hope, 
and  clearer  vision  of  a  present  God. 

I  approach  now  the  concluding,  and  I  may  say  the 
crowning,  thought  of  the  present  lecture — the  thought 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     109 

for  which  all  that  has  preceded  has  been  a  clearing  of  the 
way,  and  in  which  is  suggested  the  most  august  and 
significant  communication  that  Christianity  makes  to  the 
world.  I  have  pointed  out  that,  in  Christian  thought,  the 
manifestation  of  God  consists  in  the  self -revelation  of  His 
presence  and  of  His  character.  Upon  the  former  we  have 
dwelt.  I  approach  with  reverence  the  latter.  The  Self- 
revelation  of  the  Character  of  God  is  made  in  the  Person 
and  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  have 
seen  that,  in  Christian  thought,  the  Divine  manifestation 
is  not  an  incident  or  an  afterthought,  but  the  outcome 
of  relations  inherent  in  the  life  of  God.  There  is  a  self- 
revealing  principle  in  the  Divine  nature  without  which 
God  would  not  be  God.  He  is  necessarily  self -revealing 
because  He  is  truly  personal.  And  therefore  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  manifestation  is  moral  and  not  spectacular. 
It  is  not  mere  wonder-play — flashes  of  supernatural 
brightness  to  astonish  the  ignorant,  appall  the  supersti- 
tious, or  amuse  the  curious.  It  is  profound  self -disclosure 
in  ways  that  shall  affect  the  moral  life  of  man — the  self- 
disclosure  of  His  presence  and  the  self -disclosure  of  His 
character.  Evidently  these  two,  Presence  and  Character, 
must  be  joined  to  produce  a  manifestation  that  shall 
accomplish  moral  ends.  The  conviction  of  the  presence 
of  a  Deity,  apart  from  assurance  of  his  character,  may 
indeed  produce  a  religion ;  it  cannot  produce  a  religion  of 
the  highest  moral  beauty.  To  believe  in  God  may  be  an 
act  of  blind  credulity,  or  of  cowering  dread,  or  of  impotent 
hatred.  There  is  an  old  Christian  Scripture  that  says : 
"The  devils  also  believe  and  tremble."1  It  is  therefore 
through  the  disclosure  of  His  character  that  God  inter- 
prets  His  presence  for  moral  ends.     There  can   be   no 

i  James  2  :  19. 


110  Barrows  Lectures 

doubt  that  character  is  manifested  most  conclusively  in 
the  terms  of  concrete  personality  and  concrete  action.  If 
we  wish  to  know  the  character  of  anyone,  we  study  the 
attributes  of  personality  manifested  through  conduct.  The 
real  greatness  or  littleness  of  a  soul,  ultimately,  is  mirrored 
in  the  life  that  is  lived.  It  is  this  principle  of  life  as  the 
demonstration  and  interpretation  of  character  that  condi- 
tions the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God. 

The  Incarnation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  not  the 
birth  of  a  hero ;  it  is  the  Revelation  of  the  Character  of 
the  Eternal  God  under  the  form  of  time  and  in  the  terms 
of  human  action. 

I  am  well  aware  that  in  these  statements  I  am  proceed- 
ing upon  assumptions  concerning  the  nature  of  God  that 
are  not  identical  with  those  of  Hinduism.  It  is  in  no 
controversial  spirit  that  I  thus  proceed,  but  in  the  belief 
that  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  is,  in  the 
evolution  of  Divine  revelation,  the  last  and  greatest  con- 
tribution to  the  value  of  life  in  this  world ;  that  it  is  of 
common  interest  for  all  men ;  that  it  is  worthy  of  the  most 
serious  examination  by  all  who  agree  with  the  words 
already  quoted:  "The  history  of  religion  is  the  history  of 
the  gradual  revelation  to  man  of  the  Divine  Will."  The 
Biblical  and  distinctively  Christian  idea  of  the  Incarnation 
of  Christ,  if  it  is  to  be  so  understood  that  its  great  prac- 
tical value  shall  appear,  must  be  viewed  in  contrast  with 
two  conceptions  familiar  to  Eastern  minds  and  in  them- 
selves of  the  highest  intellectual  dignity.  One  of  these  is 
the  identification  of  the  human  self  with  the  universal 
Self  or  Brahma ;  the  other  is  the  noble  readiness  of  the 
East  to  welcome  heroic  human  leaders. 

The  first  of  these  conceptions  gives  an  introspective 
tone  to  much  of  the  religious  thought  of  the  East,  and 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     111 

exalts  an  esoteric  and  subjective  knowledge  of  the  Infinite 
above  the  objective  and  reverential  love  of  a  Personal  God, 
which  is  the  characteristic  note  of  the  Christian  religion. 
The  first  and  great  commandment  of  Christianity  is : 
"Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy 
strength."1  Christ,  setting  Himself  before  us  as  the  con- 
crete object  of  this  affection,  says:  "If  ye  love  Me  ye  will 
keep  My  commandments."2  But  from  the  Eastern  point 
of  view  there  is  little  place  for  this  love  in  the  religious 
system.  Knowledge,  esoteric  knowledge  of  the  Infinite, 
excludes  it,  and  excludes  it  logically;  for  if  I  am  God 
and  my  apparent  separateness  is  the  snare  that  hinders 
me  from  realising  my  identity  of  substance  with  the 
Infinite,  love  to  God,  which  presupposes  my  separate 
individuality,  is  but  tightening  the  bands  that  keep  me 
apart  from  God;  retarding  that  release  which  can  be 
hastened  only  by  ignoring  the  personal  distinctions  involved 
in  love,  and  plunging  beneath  them  into  the  abysmal 
blessedness  of  undifferentiated  knowledge. 

As  distinguished  from  this  great  conception  of  being, 
the  Christian  idea,  that  the  Incarnation  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  revelation  of  the  character  of  the  Eternal 
God  under  the  form  of  time  and  in  the  terms  of  human 
action,  involves  a  certain  philosophical  readjustment  on 
the  part  of  some  of  the  Eastern  students  of  Christianity. 
It  requires  that,  while  assuming  a  monistic  theory  of  the 
universe  (which  I  believe  to  be  a  rational  theory),  the 
reality  of  the  finite  individual  shall  be  granted.  Grant 
this,  grant  that  the  human  soul  is  so  far  separable  from 
the  Universal  Soul  that  the  distinction  of  subject  and 
object  is  possible,  and  all  that  the  Incarnation  means  on 

i  Mark  12: 30.  2  John  14: 15. 


112  Barrows  Lectures 

God's  side  and  on  man's  side  becomes  intelligible,  cred- 
ible, and  precious.  Love  and  knowledge  are  made  one; 
the  finite  spirit,  conscious  of  its  union  with  Infinite  Spirit, 
yet  surrendering  not  the  god-like  powers  of  individuality, 
attains,  not  psychological,  but  moral  oneness  with  the 
Divine,  through  the  knowledge  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  this  readjustment  is  not  unworthy 
of  the  highest  intellectual  life  of  India? 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Christian  idea  of  the  Incarna- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ  must  be  understood  to  connote  far 
more  than  the  advent  of  one  of  the  world's  great  religious 
leaders.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  "the  idea  as  to 
the  Person  of  Christ,  created  the  Christian  religion."1 
That  religion  was  not  built  on  the  beautiful  story  of  one 
who  was  the  fairest  of  the  children  of  men ;  who  combined 
in  himself  all  loveliness  of  personality  and  all  power  for 
leadership;  who  lived  a  life  of  stainless  purity  and  died  a 
death  of  ethical  majesty;  who  drew  about  himself  a  little 
band  of  kindred  souls  and  so  impregnated  them  with  his 
thought  that  they  became  the  exponents  of  his  doctrine 
and  the  heirs  of  his  spirit.  The  historic  Jesus  was  indeed 
the  most  beauteous  of  souls,  the  most  illustrious  of  ex- 
amples, the  most  compelling  of  leaders.  Every  Christian 
loves  that  sweetest  and  best  of  stories,  the  story  of  the 
daily  life  of  Him  who  went  about  doing  good,  blessing 
little  children,  ministering  to  the  afflicted,  instructing  the 
teachable,  expelling  devils,  forgiving  foes,  leaving  behind 
him  a  trail  of  light  that  time  has  not  extinguished.  But 
the  Christian  religion  is  built  on  "deeper  foundations 
than  admiring  love  for  the  ideally  beautiful  leader,  Jesus 
of  Nazareth."  It  is  built  upon  the  conviction  that  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God ;  the 

1  Fairbairn,  Philosophy  of  the  Christian  Religion,  p.  476. 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     113 

Manifestation  of  the  Eternal,  under  the  form  of  time  and 
in  the  terms  of  human  action.  "Without  this  belief,"  to 
use  the  words  of  Fairbairn,  "the  religion  could  have  had 
no  existence ;  the  moment  it  lived  the  religion  began  to 
be.  And  the  process  of  interpretation  was  a  creative 
process;  every  stage  in  the  evolution  of  the  thought 
marked  a  stage  in  the  realisation  of  the  religion.  In  the 
Synoptic  Gospels  we  have  what  may  be  termed  the  per- 
sonal and  subjective  religion  of  Jesus.  In  the  Apostolical 
Epistles  the  Person  is  interpreted  in  relation  to  the 
religion;  the  religion  becomes  more  clearly  defined,  dis- 
tinct in  quality,  real  in  character,  absolute  in  authority. 
We  see  it  become,  first,  different  from  Judaism;  next, 
independent  of  it ;  then,  absorbent  of  all  that  was  perma- 
nent in  it  and  in  other  religions ;  and  finally,  when  Christ 
is  conceived  in  His  Divine  dignity  and  pre-eminence,  the 
religion  appears  as  universal  in  its  unity  as  the  one  God 
is  in  His  sole  sovereignty."1 

It  is  necessary,  then,  to  differentiate  between  essential 
Christianity,  which  involves  the  worship  of  Christ  as  the 
Incarnate  Manifestation  of  the  Eternal  Principle  of  Son- 
ship  that  is  in  the  Deity,  and  that  admiration  of  Christ 
as  a  religious  leader  and  social  guide  which  has  been  so 
generously  expressed  by  many  Indians  in  words  alike 
noble  in  themselves  and  distinctive  of  the  superb  capacity 
in  Hinduism  for  the  appreciation  of  ethical  greatness, 
especially  when  revealed  through  a  life  of  self-sacrifice. 
Nothing  can  be  more  just  in  itself,  more  worthy  of  a  true 
soul,  more  beneficial  to  society,  than  to  speak  well  of  Jesus 
Christ;  to  make  much  of  His  qualities  as  a  man;  to  press 
His  example  upon  the  attention  of  the  world ;  to  hold  Him 
up  as  the  standard  of  absolute  excellence  in  conduct  for 

ilbid.,  pp.  476,  477. 


114  Barrows  Lectures 

all  times  and  all  races.  The  readiness  to  pay  the  Christ 
this  homage  of  ethical  submission  is  becoming  more  gen- 
eral day  by  day.  By  common  consent  those  who  are  the 
truest  friends  of  humanity,  who  value  the  individual  for 
his  own  sake  and  yearn  for  a  better,  sweeter  social  order, 
are  turning  in  admiration  to  Jesus,  whatever  their  theo- 
logical opinions  may  be;  agreeing  that,  if  we  each  could 
live  the  life  of  Christ,  if  the  world  were  tuned  to  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  nothing  better  could  be  conceived.  This 
recognition  of  the  moral  sovereignty  of  Christ  by  the  best 
minds  of  many  faiths  is  very  beautiful.  But  the  fact  that 
He  attracts  the  pure  in  heart  in  all  nations,  religions,  and 
social  conditions;  that  the  truth  and  tenderness  of  His 
words  and  deeds  appeal  to  men  who  are  as  far  from  one 
another,  on  other  grounds,  as  the  East  is  from  the  West, 
forces  upon  us  the  enquiry:  Is  He  not  more  than  man? 
Does  not  the  historical  fact  of  Christ  carry  with  it  con- 
clusions that  open  the  most  fundamental  questions  of 
religion  ?  I  have  alluded  to  the  generous  appreciation  of 
the  ethical  teachings  of  Christ,  now  happily  common  in 
the  East,  that  I  might  more  clearly  discriminate  between 
the  homage  readily  given  to  Jesus  as  one  of  many  great 
human  leaders,  and  the  high  truth  which  conditions  essen- 
tial Christianity ;  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Incar- 
nate Manifestation  of  the  Eternal  Principle  of  Sonship 
that  is  in  the  Deity,  and  that  the  purpose  of  this  Mani- 
festation is  not  the  founding  of  a  sect,  but  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  whole  world.  This  being  the  point  of  view  from 
which  I  shall  present  the  Incarnation  of  Christ  in  the 
succeding  lectures,  it  becomes  unnecessary  to  do  any  one 
of  three  things:  to  consider  the  antecedent  possibility  of 
an  Incarnation  of  the  Divine;  or  to  debate  the  relative 
merits  of  character  as  between  Christ  and  the  incarnations 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     115 

cherished  by  other  faiths ;  or  to  attempt  to  explain  away 
the  points  of  similitude  between  some  religious  traditions 
of  India,  and  the  words  and  deeds  of  the  Founder  of 
Christianity. 

As  to  the  antecedent  possibility  of  Divine  Incarnation, 
he  must  have  remained  strangely  ignorant  of  the  most 
precious  beliefs  of  India  who  does  not  know  how  im- 
bedded in  the  religious  consciousness  is  the  doctrine  of 
incarnation.  As  to  the  relative  merits  of  character  in 
Christ  and  other  saintly  leaders  of  the  East,  I  am  but  too 
ready  to  acknowledge  all  that  can  be  known  of  sublimity, 
patience,  or  love  in  the  lives  that  are  most  dear  to  my 
fellow  men.  As  to  the  resemblance  between  some  religious 
traditions  of  India  and  the  words  and  deeds  of  Christ,  I  wel- 
come them.  If  one  has  in  one's  heart  a  true  love  for  others, 
what  can  be  more  gladdening  than  to  be  assured  that, 
in  lands  where  Christ's  blessed  feet  never  trod  in  the  days 
of  His  flesh,  there  have  been  souls  that  shone  with  Christ- 
like radiance  amid  the  shadows  of  earth's  grief  and  pain  ? 

The  proposition  that  I  wish  to  present,  and  that  I  merely 
open  in  this  concluding  part  of  my  present  lecture,  is  not 
one  that  looks  to  the  rivalry  of  faiths  and  the  exaltation  of 
one  by  the  discrediting  of  others.  In  such  discussions  I 
take  no  interest.  I  am  not  here  to  make  dogmatic  asser- 
tions, alike  irritating  and  unprofitable.  I  am  here  to 
enquire  whether  there  is,  or  is  not,  that  in  Christianity 
which  is  of  universal  significance ;  whether  it  is,  or  is  not, 
a  Revelation  of  God  of  equal  interest  to  all  men,  because 
it  recognises  the  solemn  realities  of  spiritual  longing  and 
aspiration  that  appear  in  all  the  highest  forms  of  religion, 
and  gives  to  the  one  great,  yearning  heart  of  humanity 
an  answer  that  alleviates  the  mystery  of  life;  that  satis- 
fies and  inspires  the  soul;    that  imparts  to  personality  a 


116  Barroivs  Lectures 

new  meaning,  and  supplies  to  effort  a  new  motive. 
Truthfully  can  I  say  that  my  interest  in  Christianity  is 
not  a  selfish  or  sectarian  interest,  I  believe  it;  I  love  it; 
I  think  it  worth  while  to  travel  across  the  world  for  the 
purpose  of  expounding  it,  not  because  of  what  it  means 
to  me  personally,  nor  because  it  is  the  faith  of  my  fathers, 
but  solely  because  I  trust  that  it  is  of  universal  significance, 
and  not  mine,  or  for  mef  in  any  sense  in  which  it  is  not  my 
brother's  and  for  him.  I  love  it  because  I  have  no 
proprietary  rights  in  it  and  no  sectarian  claim  upon 
its  benefits.  I  love  it  as  I  love  sunshine  and  clear  air, 
and  all  the  gifts  of  God  that  belong  to  no  one,  simply 
because  they  belong  to  all.  I  love  it  as  I  love  liberty  and 
progress  and  the  rights  of  men;  because  these  are  uni- 
versal and  not  particulars.  I  love  it  because  I  believe 
that,  essentially,  all  men  are  one  in  their  fundamental 
feelings,  needs,  and  aspirations;  and  because  what  so 
completely  meets  the  fundamental  needs  and  answers  the 
the  deepest  aspirations  of  some  seems  as  if  it  must  be 
meant  for  all;  as  if  it  must  be  the  thing  that  has  come  at 
last,  after  ages  of  human  hope  and  fear,  from  the  Heart 
of  the  Good  God  to  satisfy  the  yearnings  and  uplift  the 
hopes  of  all  His  children ;  as  if  it  must  be  the  crown  and 
consummation  of  all  religion,  the  common  goal  to  which 
our  many  upward  paths  have  tended,  the  "one,  far  off, 
Divine  Event,  toward  which  the  whole  creation  moves." 

I  have  the  more  courage  to  speak  thus  because  India 
ever  has  been  the  home  of  thought,  where  are  welcomed 
all  serious  students  of  the  ultimate  problems  of  life.  "In 
no  other  country,"  says  a  great  Western  scholar,  "do  we 
find  so  universally  diffused  among  all  classes  of  the  people 
so  earnest  a  spirit  of  enquiry,  so  impartial  and  deep  a 
respect  for  all  who  are  teachers,  however  contradictory 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     117 

their  doctrines  may  be."1  In  such  an  atmosphere  all 
truth-seekers  are  brethren;  and  whatsoever  anyone  may 
say  is  weighed  by  all,  to  see  if  it  contain  aught  that  can 
interpret  the  mystery  of  life.  The  whole  world  is  grap- 
pling with  the  problem  of  existence  and  suffering  under 
its  burden  of  destiny.  At  the  heart  of  the  great  pre- 
Christian  religions  is  sorrow — the  sorrow  of  being  at  the 
mercy  of  forces  that  whirl  one  relentlessly  upon  the  wheel 
of  life.2  The  yearning  of  the  great  pre-Christian  religions 
is  escape — salvation  by  deliverance  from  the  burden  of 
life.  To  this  escape  all  the  ideals  and  ambitions  of  these 
religions  point.  Penance,  self-sacrifice,  humanitarian  ser- 
vice, are  all  for  this,  to  facilitate  the  escape  of  the  soul 
from  the  thralldom  of  life;  to  fly  away  and  be  at  rest;  to 
go  out  into  the  infinite ;  to  pass  through  painful  reincar- 
nations, along  the  weary  road  of  self-atonement,  leading 
at  last  to  inward  peace  and  unruffled  joy. 

These  conceptions  have  in  them  the  note  of  universality. 
Beneath  ethnic  differentiations  they  contain  great  aspects 
of  experience  common  to  all  men.  And  by  their  sad 
consistency  in  treating  man  as  the  hopeless  object  of 
forces  with  which  he  cannot  cope  and  from  which  he 
longs  to  escape,  they  testify  to  the  one  profoundest  defi- 
ciency in  human  life — the  lack  of  power.  Who  does  not 
long  for  power — to  be  something  more  than  the  passive 
slave  of  life,  something  more  than  a  stru££rlin£  swimmer 
in  the  ocean  of  overwhelming  fatality?  Who  does  not 
dream  sometimes  of  being  as  one  of  the  gods — to  create ; 
to  do ;  to  accomplish ;  to  turn  life  into  action,  fruitful, 
blessed  action;  not  mere  endurance,  praying  for  escape? 
The  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  is  the  answer  given  at 
length   to  this  yearning  of   humanity.     In   Christ   God 

iRhys  Davids,  Buddhism,  p.  26.  2  Ibid.,  p.  162. 


118  Barrows  Lectures 

appears,  to  bring  new  truth  to  light ;  truth  of  which  many 
beforetime  had  prophetic  glimpses;  for  which  the  world 
was  waiting,  as  the  sick  wait  for  the  morning;  but  which 
is  declared  and  consummated  only  in  the  Incarnation  of 
the  Eternal  Word.  What  the  world  has  lacked  has  been 
power  to  cope  with  the  mystery  of  existence,  and  to  over- 
come the  forces  that  are  making  existence  a  weary  round 
of  sorrow  and  discouragement.  Christianity's  message  is 
the  message  of  power;  power  that  can  make  all  things 
new;  power  that  can  give  a  new  meaning  and  outlook  to 
life  itself;  power  that  can  create  in  man  a  new  purpose 
and  clothe  him  with  an  immediate  and  joyful  salvation, 
so  that  he  need  no  longer  look  upon  the  world  with  de- 
spair, nor  feel  that  he  is  condemned  to  pay  the  penalty 
of  his  errours  in  long  and  painful  reincarnations,  but  can 
be  brought  now  into  immediate  union  with  God,  and 
invested  with  the  power  of  an  indissoluble  life. 

But,  in  order  to  receive  the  gift  of  power,  one  must 
first  understand  the  conditions  existing  in  the  world  that 
prevent  power  and  make  man  the  passive  slave  of  hinder- 
ing forces.  Are  they  essential  conditions?  Is  it  normal 
that  man  shall  be  passive?  Is  this  all  that  our  present 
life  means,  the  pitiless  revolution  of  a  wheel  of  destiny? 
Or  is  this  helplessness  of  man  a  perversion  of  the  normal 
order,  produced  by  causes  that  can  be  known  and  con- 
quered? Until  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  men 
had  worked  at  that  question,  to  reach  only  the  answer  of 
pessimism:  Life  a  mere  treadmill,  a  weary  path;  Man  a 
poor  pilgrim ;  struggling  through  the  world,  seeking  escape 
by  a  salvation  that  means  deliverance  from  life. 

Then  came  the  Incarnation,  and,  with  it,  the  new  answer 
to  the  problem  of  existence:  "I  am  come,  not  to  deliver 
you  from  life,  but  that  ye  might  have  life,  and  that  ye 


Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Manifestation  of  God     119 

might  have  it  more  abundantly."1  It  is  with  this  message 
that  I  would  deal  in  the  remaining  lectures  of  this  course; 
not  with  superficial  comparisons  of  Christ  and  other  world- 
leaders  ;  not  with  controversial  intricacies  of  doctrine ;  but 
with  things  far  greater;  things  universal,  human.  Does 
Christ  bring  that  for  which  the  ages  have  been  searching  ? 
Does  He  redeem  man  by  redeeming  life,  by  making  life  a 
new  thing  ?  Does  he  give  power  that  all  men  can  use  and 
by  which  life  is  changed  for  all  men,  Eastern  or  Western? 
These  are  the  questions  upon  which  Christianity  stands 
or  falls  as  a  message  of  universal  import.  And  these  are 
the  questions  that  are  met  and  answered  in  the  Incarnation 
of  the  Son  of  God,  and  there  only.  In  the  remaining 
lectures  I  shall  attempt  to  set  before  you  the  answers  that 
issue  from  the  Incarnation  of  Christ.  I  shall  seek  to  show 
that  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  revelation  of  the  character 
of  God,  whereby  we  know  that  it  is  nothing  in  God  that 
is  holding  the  world  back.  He  is  not  against  man.  He 
is  not  indifferent,  nor  vindictive,  nor  capricious.  He  is  all 
that  love  can  be.  I  shall  seek  to  show  that  the  Incarnation 
may  be  looked  on  as  a  revelation  of  the  Ideal  Life;  of 
what  man  is  meant  to  be;  not  a  sorrowing  helpless  creature, 
but  a  strong  son  of  God;  not  a  self-centred  creature,  but 
a  minister  of  helpfulness  inspired  by  holy  love  for  others. 
I  shall  seek  to  show  that  the  Incarnation  reveals  the  love 
of  God,  in  the  terms  of  suffering  and  sacrifice;  and  that 
salvation,  seen  in  the  light  of  that  Incarnate  Sacrifice, 
means,  not  escape  from  life,  but  deliverance  from  sin, 
which  curses  life  and  holds  it  down;  and  the  restoration 
of  life  to  its  normal  uses  and  powers  in  immediate  union 
with  the  life  of  God. 

l  Cf.  John  10  :  10. 


FOURTH  LECTURE 

THE  SIN  OF  MAN  AND  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST 
INTERPRETED  BY  CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCE 

We  have  reached,  in  the  discussion  of  our  subject,  that 
most  vital  stage  of  the  argument  where  the  moral  rela- 
tions of  Christianity  to  the  lives  of  men  must  engage  our 
attention,  and  the  problems  of  evil  and  good  must  be  con- 
sidered. I  have  to  speak  therefore  of  the  Sin  of  Man  and 
the  Sacrifice  of  Christ. 

When,  more  than  three  years  ago,  I  was  appointed  to 
this  Lectureship,  I  entered  upon  the  long  and  arduous 
course  of  preparation  in  an  attitude  of  reverence  toward 
non-Christian  faiths.  I  desired  to  be  a  humble  learner 
from  systems  of  belief  that  commanded  the  allegiance  of 
immense  numbers  of  my  fellow-men,  and  that  represented 
the  insight,  research,  and  aspiration  of  long  lines  of  emi- 
nent and  saintly  personages.  I  believed  that  such  an 
attitude  was  in  accord  with  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  be- 
coming on  the  part  of  the  seeker  for  truth.  The  results 
have  more  than  justified  my  anticipations.  Some  of  the 
religious  conceptions  of  non-Christian  faiths  have  im- 
pressed themselves  upon  me  by  their  majestic  propor- 
tions; and  some  have  presented  nobler  embodiments  of 
certain  fundamental  ideas  of  Christianity  than  one  finds 
in  the  conventional  Christian  thought  of  the  West.  From 
time  to  time,  in  this  course  of  preparation,  the  conviction 
has  recurred  with  increasing  definiteness  that  the  East 
could,  if  it  would,  give  more  adequate  expression  to 
Christianity  than  the  West  ever  has  given;  that  India 
might,  if  it  would,  express  the  innermost  secret  of  Christ 
with   an  exaltation  of    tone,  an  emancipation  from    the 

120 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     121 

thralldom  of  things  visible,  a  grasp  on  the  eternal,  the 
invisible,  the  imperishable,  never  yet  attained  by  the  aver- 
age thought  of  Europe  and  America.  Firmly  I  believe 
that  the  greatness  of  essential  Christianity  not  yet  has 
adequately  been  expressed,  and  never  can  be,  until  the 
East  co-operates  in  that  expression  and,  as  the  teacher  of 
the  West,  contributes  elements  of  thought  and  feeling 
comparatively  lacking  there. 

Such  being  my  attitude  toward  non-Christian  beliefs, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  I  am  indebted  to  them  for  cer- 
tain suggestions  in  connection  with  my  present  attempt 
to  speak  of  sin  from  a  Christian  point  of  view.  Grate- 
fully I  acknowledge  that  the  influence  of  Eastern  thought 
has  enlarged  my  own  view  of  the  scope  and  content  of 
Christian  truth,  and  has  deepened  my  conviction  of  its 
intrinsic  universality,  and  of  the  inestimable  service  in 
the  interpretation  of  it  that  may  be  rendered  by  Oriental 
philosophy  and  Oriental  example,  should  the  East  ever 
join  the  West  in  acknowledging  the  world-wide  relation- 
ship of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Christian  religion  is  one  with  other  forms  of  faith 
in  recognising  the  fact  of  sin  and  in  dealing  with  it. 
Many  religions  recognise  sin.  The  conceptions  of  its  na- 
ture, the  theories  of  its  results,  the  methods  of  dealing 
with  it,  vary;  the  fact  is  one.  An  American  writer  has 
said:  "Sin  gives  to  life  its  deepest  tragic  quality.  The 
amount  of  evil  that  a  study  of  familiar  facts  would  bring 
to  light  is  utterly  appalling.  It  is  true  that  much  good 
would,  also  be  found,  and  that  the  responsibility  of  the 
evil  is  often  divided  between  him  who  commits  it  and  the 
ancestors  who  have  made  him  what  he  is.  It  is  true  also 
that  some  part  of  the  evil  that  is  commonly  called  sin  is 
rightly  chargeable  to  imperfection  or  immaturity,  or  igno- 


122  Barrows  Lectures 

ranee;  nevertheless  observation  shows  that  sin  is  the 
abiding  habit  of  the  race.  Beginning  without  theory  or 
special  definition,  we  find  moral  evil  characteristic  of 
mankind.  Even  if  we  never  learned  the  origin  of  sin 
and  were  always  uncertain  about  the  philosophy  of  it, 
these  facts  would  remain.  Sin  is  an  observed  fact. 
Theology  encounters  it  not  as  an  element  in  some  theory, 
but  as  a  vast  and  terrible  reality.  Many  Christians  think 
of  sin  chiefly  as  a  matter  of  doctrine  or  as  a  truth  opened 
to  us  by  revelation.  This  is  a  mistake  indeed:  sin  is  an 
ancient  and  ever-present  fact."1 

It  is  obvious  that  our  conceptions  of  the  nature  of  sin 
must  be  determined  by  our  conceptions  of  the  nature  of 
God  and  of  finite  personality.  As  we  think  of  God  and 
and  as  we  think  of  ourselves,  so  shall  we  think  of  sin. 
If  God  is  not  personal,  but  an  impersonal  Absolute;  if 
finite  personality  is  illusory  and  not  real;  or  if  God  and 
self  alike  are  delusions,  and  the  end  of  existence  is  the 
extinction  of  a  temporary,  fleeting  individuality,  all  inter- 
pretations of  the  idea  of  sin,  and  of  the  antecedent  prob- 
lem of  evil,  are  conditioned  by  these  premises.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  God  is  personal  and  the  finite  self  is  an 
actual  differentiation  of  the  Absolute,  possessing  the 
qualities  of  individuality,  sin  takes  on  other  meanings  and 
relations,  and  a  study  of  it  opens  moral  problems  and 
moral  possibilities  that  are  distinctive.  These  are  the 
matters  with  which  I  would  deal  in  this  lecture ;  approach- 
ing them  in  the  spirit  of  one  who  longs  to  have  the  co- 
operation of  Eastern  thinkers  in  sounding  the  depths  of 
a  theory  of  sin  and  redemption  which  shall  be  universal 
in  its  application  and  rich  with  suggestion  for  the  better- 
ment and  sanctification  of  life. 

i  Clarke,  Outline  of  Christian  Theology,  p.  230. 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     123 

The  Christian  Religion  concerns  itself  primarily  with 
the  fact  of  sin;  and  its  central  message  to  humanity  is 
deliverance  from  sin  through  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ 
the  Lord.  In  the  brief  and  crowded  ministry  of  Christ 
upon  earth,  no  moment  is  more  distinctly  typical  of  the 
attitude  of  Christianity  toward  mankind  than  that  in 
which  He  surveys  Jerusalem  from  the  Bethany  road  and 
weeps  over  it.  It  is  the  beginning  of  the  week  of  His 
final  sufferings.  With  Divine  prescience  He  realises  that 
the  supreme  hour  of  the  Sacrifice  is  near.  Arrayed  in  the 
qualities  of  courage,  patience,  holiness,  and  love,  He  pre- 
pares to  announce  His  presence  in  the  midst  of  those  who, 
blinded  by  prejudice,  are  incapable  of  recognising  the 
benignity  of  His  purpose.  He  approaches  the  city,  riding 
upon  an  ass;  more  kingly  in  His  simplicity  of  habit  than 
if  encumbered  with  the  splendours  of  a  royal  progress. 
Through  that  strangely  keen  insight  wherewith  common 
minds  sometimes  detect  truths  unnoticed  by  the  wise,  the 
multitude  preceive  in  Him  their  friend,  and  surround  Him 
with  touching  acclamations.  Palm  branches  and  the  gar- 
ments of  loving  men  carpet  the  path  whereon  He  travels. 
Benedictions  ascend  toward  Him  from  the  crowd.  At 
length  He  reaches  the  point  where  breaks  upon  His  view 
Jerusalem,  the  city  of  a  thousand  divine  privileges  and 
sacred  associations.  Its  glorious  walls,  its  shining  palaces, 
confront  Him.  But  with  the  inward  vision  of  His  dis- 
cerning spirit  He  sees  the  mistaken  judgment,  the  per- 
verted will,  the  pride,  the  unreality,  the  wrong,  that  dwell 
in  self -destroying  security  within  those  walls;  and  from 
the  depths  of  a  heart  that  meets  ignorance  with  compas- 
sion, hatred  with  forgiveness,  sin  with  sacrifice,  sorrow 
wells  and  blinds  with  tears  the  eyes  of  Holy  Love. 

Such  is  the  tenderness  of  Christianity  as  it  regards  a 


124  Barrows  Lectures 

world  endowed  with  divine  possibilities,  yet  devastated  by 
sin.  The  spirit  of  Christ  is  the  spirit  of  Christianity. 
Like  Christ,  its  attitude  toward  the  world  is  an  attitude  of 
love,  of  sorrow,  of  redeeming  effort,  of  immortal  hope. 
Like  Him,  it  desires  that  all  men  shall  be  saved  from 
destructive  influences  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  Like  Him,  it  finds  in  sin  the  cause  of  life's  rest- 
lessness and  wretchedness.  Like  Him,  its  chief  concern 
is  the  dissolution  of  the  power  of  sin ;  the  deliverance  and 
forgiveness  of  the  sinful;  the  transformation  of  life  to 
more  abundant  self-realisation. 

In  order  to  understand  why  sin  is  recognised  in  Chris- 
tian thought  as  a  fact  of  such  momentous  import,  one 
must  call  to  mind  the  Christian  view  of  God  and  of  the 
relation  of  good  and  evil.  The  idea  of  God  connotes  in 
Christian  thought  Infinite  Personality.  This  has  been 
set  forth  at  length  in  an  earlier  lecture.  The  Christian, 
like  the  Hindu,  approaches  the  idea  of  God  by  the  path 
of  negation — the  negation  of  finite  differences.  The  first 
philosophical  step  toward  God  is  to  differentiate  between 
Him  and  the  transitory  things  that  are  not  He.  The 
formula  "not  that — not  that"  belongs  to  the  one  universal 
vocabulary  of  true  theistic  science.  Pressing  past  the 
limitations  of  the  finite,  we  arrive  at  that  pure,  unqualified 
negation  which  is  the  symbol  of  Infinity.  But  when 
Christian  thought  arrives  at  that  pure,  unqualified  nega- 
tion, it  insists  on  going  farther.  It  cannot  regard  an 
Infinite  Negative  as  the  highest  possible  expression  of  the 
idea  of  God.  It  conceives  a  yet  higher  expression,  which 
is  an  Infinite  Positive  completing  the  Infinite  Negative 
by  differentiations  within  itself  whereby  self-realisation 
becomes  possible  and  personality  emerges.  To  think  of 
God  as  impersonal  essence  without  the  qualifying  attri- 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     125 

butes  of  personality  seems  to  the  Christian  to  limit  the 
Infinite  by  denying  Him  the  capacity  for  self-knowledge 
and  self-expression  that  is  enjoyed  by  finite  intelligences. 
The  simplicity  of  impersonal  essence,  attained  by  the 
negation  of  attributes,  is  felt  to  be  less  comprehensive 
and  all-sufficient  than  the  wealth  of  personality  attained 
through  differentiation.  God  is  conceived  as  realising 
Himself  within  the  depths  of  His  own  infinity  through 
those  differentiations  which  no  mortal  mind  can  fathom, 
yet  which  mortal  faith  can  adore  as  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit. 

It  is  by  the  development  of  this  idea  of  Infinite  Per- 
sonality as  the  highest  conception  of  God  that  Christian 
philosophy  accounts  for  such  a  phenomenon  as  the  finite 
spirit  of  man.  The  self-realisation  of  an  Infinite  God 
demands  the  existence  of  finite  intelligences  in  corre- 
spondence with  His  own.  A  solitary  God,  who  represents 
in  his  own  unqualified  essence  the  totality  of  being,  seems 
to  the  Christian  a  conception  that  requires  modification 
in  order  to  raise  it  to  the  terms  of  infinity.  An  all- 
comprehending  God  must  realise  Himself  through  the 
outgoings  of  His  thought  upon  limited  beings  who  can  be 
the  objects  of  certain  manifestations  of  love  and  righteous- 
ness that  are  necessary  elements  of  perfect  character. 
So  man  is  the  offspring  of  God  :  finite  intelligence  becomes 
existent,  not  for  the  limitation,  but  for  the  expression  of 
Infinite  character.  Man  is  like  God ;  he  is  a  partaker  of  the 
Divine  nature.  Man  is  necessary  to  God,  even  as  God  is 
necessary  to  man.  God  completes  Himself  through  man, 
as  Light  and  as  Love.  Man  completes  himself  in  God; 
and  the  seal  and  evidence  of  this  mystical  fellowship  of  the 
divine  in  and  with  the  human  is  the  Incarnation  of  the 
Eternal  Logos,  who,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  is  made  flesh 


126  Barrows  Lectures 

and  dwells  visibly  for  a  season,  in  form  and  fellowship 
with  man.  Such  a  conception  of  God's  personality  in  Him- 
self, and  in  His  relation  to  man,  invests  the  phenomenon 
of  sin  with  extraordinary  significance,  and  requires  an 
interpretation  of  its  nature  that  shall  be  compatible  with 
that  oneness  of  life  whereby  man  is  the  offspring  of  God. 

In  order  to  such  an  interpretation  of  sin  as  these  condi- 
tions demand,  it  is  necessary  also  to  refer  to  the  Christian 
view  of  the  relation  of  good  and  evil.  I  look  with  rever- 
ence upon  the  conclusions  reached  by  the  great  construct- 
ive thinkers  of  pre-Christian  faiths,  who,  beholding  the 
universality  of  evil  and  its  effects  upon  life,  have  sought 
to  state  the  problems  of  existence  in  terms  that  should 
assuage  the  sorrow  and  revive  the  hope  of  a  weary  world. 
As,  with  a  sympathetic  mind,  I  study  the  methods  whereby, 
in  the  philosophies  of  Zarathushtra,  of  the  Buddha,  and 
of  the  Vedanta,  the  fact  of  evil  is  related  to  life,  it  is  easy 
for  me  to  realise  the  value  of  these  interpretations  for 
those  who  can  receive  them ;  for  in  them  I  perceive  the 
foreshadowing  of  thoughts  substantially  reaffirmed  in  my 
own  Christian  consciousness. 

When  the  Zarathushtrian  tells  me  of  a  primeval  prin- 
ciple of  evil  ever  contesting  the  principle  of  good,  ever 
bringing  conflict  into  the  moral  universe  and  into  the  life 
of  the  individual  believer;  he  says  that  which  all  Christian 
experience  verifies,  from  the  present  hour  back  to  St.  Paul, 
who  testified,  in  language  that  might  have  been  uttered 
by  a  Persian  seeker  after  righteousness:  "The  good  that 
I  would  I  do  not,  but  the  evil  which  I  would  not  that  I 
practise.  I  find  then  the  law  that,  to  me  who  would  do 
good,  evil  is  present.  For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after 
the  inward  man ;  but  I  see  a  different  law  in  my  members, 
warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     127 

into  captivity  under  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  mem- 
bers. O  wretched  man  that  I  am!  who  shall  deliver  me 
out  of  the  body  of  this  death?1'1 

When  the  disciple  of  the  Buddha,  seeking  along  the 
Noble  Path  deliverance  from  the  wheel  of  rebirth  and 
from  the  sorrow  inherent  in  individuality,  warns  me  against 
the  delusion  of  grasping  after  the  fleeting  and  illusory 
things  of  this  existence ;  when  he  tells  me  that  the  sorrow 
and  evil  of  life  spring  from  this  grasping  effort  to  realise 
individuality  through  attachment  to  worldly  things;  I 
know  that  he  speaks  truth,  and  interprets  to  me  a  principle 
that  lives  in  the  very  soul  of  Christianity,  though  little 
understood  by  many  of  its  western  followers:  even  the 
transitory  and  illusory  nature  of  the  world.  There  are 
words  in  the  mouths  of  Christian  Apostles  that  reflect  the 
spirit  of  the  Buddha.  "The  world  passeth  away  and 
the  lust  thereof."2  "And  those  that  use  this  world  as  not 
abusing  it;  for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away."3 
"We  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the 
things  which  are  not  seen;  for  the  things  which  are 
seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are 
eternal."* 

When  the  Hindu  unfolds  to  me  the  doctrine  of  Karma, 
wherein  evil  is  seen  as  the  fruit  and  sequence  of  former 
action — a  doctrine,  permit  me  to  say,  that  has  developed 
in  Hindu  character  some  of  its  finest  qualities,  especially 
an  uncomplaining  submission  to  evil  as  the  just  reward  of 
wrong-doing,  and  a  readiness  to  face  without  shrinking 
the  bitter  penalty  of  one's  former  sins — he  tells  me  of  that 
which  belongs  to  the  essence  of  Christian  thought.  The 
Karma  of  Hinduism,  "the  unbroken  chain  of  cause  and 

i  Eom.  7 :  19-24.  2 1  John  2 :  17. 

31  Cor,  7:31.  *  2  Cor.  4:18. 


128  Barrows  Lectures 

effect,  in  which  every  link  depends  on  the  link  that  pre- 
cedes it ;  out  of  which  no  link  can  drop,  for  law  is  invio- 
lable,"1 has  its  counterpart  in  the  ethics  of  Christianity: 
"Be  not  deceived;  God  is  not  mocked:  for  whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.  For  he  that  soweth 
unto  his  own  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption ;  but 
he  that  soweth  unto  the  Spirit  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life 
everlasting." 2  The  principle  of  Karma  as  it  enters  into 
Christianity  never  yet  has  found  adequate  expression  in 
the  Christian  life  of  the  West.  The  righteousness  of  cause 
and  effect  in  a  moral  order,  the  justice  of  suffering  as  a 
sequence  of  sin,  the  nobleness  of  submission  to  retributive 
pain,  have  not  duly  tempered  Western  character  nor  curbed 
the  pride  of  its  individualism.  The  consequences  of  action 
sit  too  lightly  on  the  Western  conscience.  The  West  needs 
the  grave  and  ancient  East  to  interpret  this  element  of 
Christianity  to  those  who  long  have  called  themselves 
Christian.  I  would  to  God  that  the  East  were  Christian, 
for  then  at  last  the  West  might  learn,  by  the  power  of  a 
great  example,  to  realise  personal  responsibility  and  the 
inevitable  certainty  of  the  wages  of  sin. 

But  while  the  halting  and  inconsequent  practices  of 
the  West  have  but  faintly  set  forth  the  scope  and  content 
of  the  Christian  religion  in  its  view  of  moral  evil,  I  will 
ask  you  to  remember  that  in  these  lectures  I  am  not  offer- 
ing the  West  as  an  illustration  of  what  Christianity  is  or 
teaches;  I  am  not  boasting  of  the  West  as  the  product  of 
Christian  ideas;  I  am  not  attempting  to  impose  a  Chris- 
tianised West  upon  an  unwilling  or  scornful  East.  Far 
higher  and  more  rational  is  my  effort.  I  am  seeking  your 
co-operation  in  the  study  of  what,  intrinsically,  is  world- 

1  Slater,  Higher  Hinduism,  p.  199  (quoting  Mrs.  Besant). 
a  Gal.  6:7,  8. 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     129 

wide  in  the  Christian  system;  I  am  enquiring  into  its 
practical  contributions  to  the  value  of  life ;  I  am  asking  if 
its  forms  of  thought  may  possibly  give  expression  to  the 
noblest  religious  aspirations  of  India  and  of  the  world. 

To  ascertain  this,  it  is  necessary  to  reflect  upon  the 
attitude  of  essential  Christianity  toward  moral  evil.  It 
does  not  regard  moral  evil  as  a  metaphysical  necessity, 
inherent  in  the  nature  of  things,  so  that  the  existence  of 
evil  is  necessary  in  order  to  the  existence  of  good,  and  the 
estate  of  sin  the  condition  determining  the  evolution  of 
virtue.  While  recognising  that  some  of  the  noblest  attri- 
butes of  character  may  emerge  in  the  struggle  of  the  soul 
with  sin,  it  refuses  to  believe  that  a  Holy  God,  in  order  to 
develop  righteous  character  in  man,  necessitates  moral 
antecedents  unethical  in  themselves,  and  incompatible 
with  Divine  righteousness.  Nor  does  the  Christian  reli- 
gion locate  the  seat  of  evil  in  the  region  of  physical  being, 
as  if  affirming  that  matter  is  in  itself  evil  and  spirit  good. 
While  recognising  the  evils  arising  through  the  mediation 
of  the  flesh,  its  passions  and  its  tendencies,  and  while 
sympathising  with  man  in  his  struggle  to  bring  the 
imperious  impulses  of  the  flesh  under  proper  restraint,  it 
refuses  to  grant  the  intrinsic  evil  of  any  part  of  that  sys- 
tem of  nature  which  owes  its  existence  to  the  utterly  good 
and  loving  God.1 

Essential  Christianity  locates  the  seat  of  moral  evil  in 
the  will  of  man.  Without  too  sharply  sundering  the 
intellect  from  the  will,  in  our  study  of  this  subject,  it 
may  be  said  that  the  will  is  the  regal  element  of  per- 
sonality; its  existence  and  its  force  are  impressed  upon 
the  individual  every  moment.    This  power  "by  which  man 

lCf.  Westcott,  Epistles  of  St.  John,  note,  pp.  37-40;  Clarke,  Outline  of 
Christian  Theology,  pp.  231-39 ;  Sri  Parananda,  Commentary  on  St.  John,  pp.  49, 
50, 166. 


130  Barrows  Lectures 

determines  whether  and  how  he  shall  act,  and  by  which 
he  puts  forth  his  energy  in  action,"  commands  the  whole 
range  of  self-knowledge  and  self-expression.  In  the  last 
analysis,  it  is  not  our  feelings  that  control  us;  it  is  not 
our  thoughts  and  conceptions  that  determine  what  we 
shall  be  and  do;  it  is  our  wills.1  "The  willing  depart- 
ment of  our  nature,"  says  a  great  living  psychologist, 
"dominates  both  the  conceiving  department  and  the 
feeling  department."2 

A  brief  reflection  upon  the  will  as  we  know  it  within 
ourselves  will  show  the  relation  of  the  will  to  conduct. 
The  freedom  of  the  will  is  the  birthright  of  the  normal 
human  being.  By  the  same  power  of  self-consciousness 
wherewith  he  knows  himself  as  existing,  he  knows  himself 
as  free — free  to  choose,  free  to  refuse,  free  to  act,  free  to 
refrain  from  action.  Obviously  this  freedom  is  not 
unlimited.  While  we  are  certain  that  in  the  centre  of 
our  being  we  hold  the  royal  prerogative  of  determining 
what  we  will  do  or  not  do,  we  are  equally  certain  that  in 
the  exercise  of  that  prerogative  we  are  influenced  by  many 
considerations;  some  wholly  exterior  to  ourselves,  some 
arising  in  other  departments  of  our  personality.  We 
know  that  our  decisions  are  affected  from  without  by  the 
facts  of  life  that  surround  us,  by  knowledge  that  we  may 
have  acquired  through  previous  contact  with  those  facts, 
or  by  persons  who  exert  an  influence  over  our  feelings  or 
our  movements.  We  know  also  that  our  decisions  are 
promoted  —  sometimes  they  seem  almost  to  be  necessi- 
tated— by  forces  at  work  within  ourselves:  the  rush  of 
physical  impulse;  the  current  of  intellectual  tendency; 
the  breathing  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  the  pressure  of  the 

1  Cf.  Rotce,  The  World  and  the  Individual,  pp.  434-37. 

2  James,  The  Will  to  Believe,  p.  114. 


Tlie  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     131 

Will  of  God.  These  are  limitations  imposed  upon  the 
will;  factors  that  make  the  problem  of  volition  more 
complex. 

Yet,  in  the  last  analysis,  our  wills  are  ours.1  Within 
all  limitations  and  suggestions,  external  and  internal,  is 
the  royal  presence-chamber  of  the  Will,  the  throne-room 
of  the  volitional  Ego,  where  the  finite  self  asserts  its 
right  of  individuality  and  vindicates  its  freedom.  It  is 
there,  at  that  final  seat  and  centre  of  personality,  that 
Christianity  locates  the  moral  evil  of  human  life  and  finds 
the  fountain-head  of  sin.  I  have  called  the  will  the  most 
regal  element  of  personality.  It  is  such  because  its 
normal  function  is  the  self-assertion  of  the  ego.  The 
self-assertion  of  the  ego  is  not  sin.  It  is  the  exercise  of 
man's  most  godlike  prerogative.  Never  are  we  more 
worthy  of  our  Divine  lineage  than  in  the  instant  of  voli- 
tion; for  in  that  act  the  finite  child  of  the  Infinite  Father 
intuitively  discloses  its  high  parentage  and  corroborates 
its  kinship  with  the  Eternal  Mind.  Nor  does  the  essence 
of  sin  consist  in  the  fact  that  this  ego,  which  on  the  one 
hand  is  affiliated  with  God,  is  on  the  other  hand  clothed 
in  a  physical  nature  shared  with  lower  animals  and  con- 
taining animalistic  propensities.  The  animalistic  instincts 
of  the  human  being  are,  in  their  original  and  unperverted 
forms,  normal,  and  consistent  with  the  highest  ethical 
life.  The  morality  of  the  will,  with  its  two  ethical 
products,  righteousness  and  sin,  issues  not  from  the  fact 
of  volition  per  se,  but  from  the  antecedent  fact  that  there 
is  an  ideal  order  of  being,  a  Divine  order  which  is  the 
absolute  standard,  and  with  which  the  finite  will  is  in  a 
relation  either  of  harmony  or  of  antagonism.  Righteous- 
ness is  the  self-assertion  of  the  finite  ego  in  accord  with 

i  Cf.  Tennyson,  In  Memoriam. 


132  Barrows  Lectures 

the  Divine  order  of  being.  Take,  for  example,  a  sin  of 
the  flesh — an  illicit  and  destructive  act  of  indulgence,  a 
self-abandonment  to  animalistic  impulse;  the  sin  of  that 
act  is  not  chiefly  in  the  temporary  domination  of  a  bodily 
passion,  but  in  the  self-assertion  of  the  ego,  under  the 
influence  of  an  animalistic  impulse,  on  the  side  of  that 
which  violates,  affronts,  and  contravenes  the  Divine  order 
of  being.  "Sin,"  says  one  who  has  thought  deeply  on 
these  matters,  "does  not  dwell  in  the  fact  that  man  stil] 
retains  a  nature  akin  to  that  of  the  animals  below  him, 
but  in  this,  that  the  nature  that  is  akin  to  God  yields  to 
the  nature  that  is  common  to  man  and  beasts."1  "Sin," 
says  another,  "is  the  turning  of  a  light  brighter  than  the 
sun  into  darkness;  the  squandering  or  bartering  away  of 
a  boundless  wealth ;  the  suicidal  abasement,  to  the  things 
that  perish,  of  a  nature  destined  by  its  constitution  and 
structure  for  participation  in  the  very  being  and  blessed- 
ness of  God."1* 

The  Christian  religion  concerns  itself  primarily  with 
this  fact  of  sin,  this  universal  and  perpetual  self-assertion 
of  the  finite  ego,  as  against  the  Divine  order  of  being.  It 
is  a  religion  for  the  sinful,  to  convince  them  of  the  fact  of 
sin;  to  interpret  to  them  its  nature;  to  announce  a 
Redeemer  and  Deliverer  who  is  able  to  save  from  sin  by 
lifting  the  soul  above  its  power  and  bringing  man  back 
into  normal  relation  with  God.  "I  came,"  says  Christ, 
"not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners."3  "The  Son  of 
Man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."4 

The  point  of  view  from  which  Christianity  regards  the 
phenomenon  of  sin  is  to  be  considered.    It  contains  three 

i  Clakke,  Outline  of  Christian  Theology ;  see  the  chapter  on  "  Sin." 

2  J.  Caird,  Fundamentals  of  Christianity,  Vol.  II.  p.  122. 

3  Matt.  9:13.  *Lukel9:10. 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     133 

elements:  an  appreciation  of  the  Divine  order  of  the  uni- 
verse as  an  expression  of  the  love  of  God  for  man;  an 
appreciation  of  the  greatness  of  man  as  a  being  capable 
of  asserting  himself  against  the  Divine  order;  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  sorrowful  and  destructive  results  of  the 
alienation  of  the  finite  ego  from  the  benign  and  holy  will 
of  God. 

From  the  Christian  point  of  view  the  whole  problem  of 
man's  ethical  struggle,  and  of  man's  sin,  rests  on  the 
assumption  that  God  is  personal  and  God  is  good.  The 
Divine  Essence  is  not  an  impersonal  absolute  existing 
without  qualities.  It  is  Infinite  Life  clothed  with  illus- 
trious attributes  of  moral  character:  God  is  the  perfection 
of  self-conscious  being.  In  Him  is  unsearchable  wisdom, 
wherein  is  no  possibility  of  errour,  no  alloy  of  prejudice; 
perfect  knowledge,  beholding  the  end  from  the  beginning; 
justice,  clear  as  the  noonday,  calm  as  eternity;  faithful- 
ness like  the  great  mountains ;  holiness  that  cannot  be 
tempted  with  evil,  neither  tempteth  any  man;  purity  that 
will  not  countenance  anything  that  defileth  or  maketh  a 
lie ;  power  conditioned  only  by  the  beneficence  of  the 
Divine  will  and  the  righteousness  of  the  Divine  character ; 
mercy  like  the  wideness  of  the  sea ;  love  that  suffereth 
long  and  is  kind.  This  God,  in  whom  all  perfections 
meet,  stands  toward  man  in  the  attitude  of  a  father  toward 
a  child.  The  love  of  the  Infinite  Heart  goes  out  to  man  as 
that  of  the  parent  toward  its  offspring.  The  thought  of 
the  Infinite  Mind  on  behalf  of  man  is  altogether  that  of 
beneficent  desire — the  will  of  goodness  that  ordains  for 
the  object  of  its  affection  all  that  is  best,  highest,  most 
conducive  of  happiness  and  well-being.  The  Christian 
conception  of  Divine  law  is  not  the  yoke  of  tyranny  and 
oppression,    the    cynical   statute    of    the    selfish    despot. 


134  Barrows  Lectures 

Divine  law  is  the  continuous  expression  of  the  mind  of 
love ;  the  unfolding  of  an  ideal  order,  by  perfect  corre- 
spondence with  which  man  shall  find  the  clue  to  his  own 
existence  ;  the  line  of  his  own  best  development ;  the  path 
of  peace.  It  cannot  be  too  clearly  pointed  out  that  this  is 
the  Christian  view  of  God's  attitude  toward  man.  Extra- 
ordinary misconceptions  on  this  point  have  prevailed. 
Sectarian  accentuations  of  detail  have  added  to  the  force 
of  these  misconceptions ;  representing  God,  now  in  the 
aspect  of  inscrutable  fate,  sweeping  men  onward  by  a 
resistless  tide  of  destiny;  now  in  the  attitude  of  judicial 
vengeance,  to  be  propitiated  by  the  sacrifice  of  an  innocent 
victim.  Ignoring  these  misconceptions  and  rising  to  the 
truth,  we  find  an  Infinite  Personality  of  Holy  Love 
expressing  itself  through  an  ideal  order  of  the  universe, 
and  inviting  men  to  attain  complete  realisation  and  self- 
development  through  voluntary  correspondence  with  that 
ideal  order. 

The  point  of  view  from  which  Christianity  regards  the 
phenomenon  of  sin  is  characterised  also  by  appreciation 
of  the  greatness  of  man  as  a  being  capable  of  asserting 
himself  against  the  Divine  order.  Sin,  in  a  truly  Chris- 
tian philosophy  of  existence,  is  not  a  mere  stepping-stone 
to  righteousness,  the  indispensable  ethical  routine  through 
which  man  passes  from  the  ignorance  of  innocency  to 
moral  self-realisation ;  nor  is  sin  a  mere  disease  persisting 
in  the  body  of  humanity  and  prolonging  its  taint  in  the 
blood  of  a  thousand  generations.  From  the  Christian 
point  of  view,  sin  is  sin  because  it  involves  moral  volition ; 
the  most  regal  of  human  attributes.  The  instrument  of 
sin  is  that  in  man  which  is  most  evidently  akin  to  God, 
the  moral  self-assertion  of  the  ego. 

If  man  were  like  the  beasts  that  perish,  he  could  not 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     135 

sin;  but,  because  there  is  in  him  the  very  seed  and 
essence  of  God,  because  his  individuality  is  the  reflection 
and  image  of  the  Divine  individuality,  therefore  can  he 
assert  himself  against  the  Divine  order.  Only  when  we 
consider  this  can  we  understand  why  Christianity  concerns 
itself  so  enormously  with  the  fact  of  sin,  so  that  it  may  be 
called  a  religion  for  the  sinful ;  and  why  Christ  comes,  not 
as  the  leader  of  an  esoteric  cult,  not  as  the  teacher  of  a 
philosophical  system,  not  as  the  high-priest  of  a  new 
ritual;  but  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  "This,"  cries  the 
Apostle  "is  a  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners."1 
Sin  darkly  and  terribly  attests  the  greatness  of  man.  He 
is  so  truly  the  offspring  of  God  that  he  can  resist  the 
Divine  order  of  life,  and  misapply  it  to  his  own  destruc- 
tion. In  the  sinner  God  sees  His  own  child  using  the 
regal  gift  of  moral  self-assertion  in  the  denial  of  the 
Divine  order ;  turning  his  best  into  his  worst ;  calling  evil 
good  and  good  evil.  Sin  therefore  becomes  the  central 
fact  in  human  life,  and  the  love  that  found  expression  in 
making  man  in  the  image  of  God  finds  new  expression  in 
the  effort  to  save  the  thing  made  from  its  own  unmaking. 
To  this  appreciation  of  the  Divine  order  of  the  uni- 
verse as  an  expression  of  the  love  of  God  for  man,  and  of 
the  greatness  of  man  as  a  being  capable  of  asserting  him- 
self against  that  order,  the  Christian  view  of  sin  adds 
one  further  element  of  deep  significance — an  appreciation 
of  the  sorrowful  and  destructive  results  of  the  alienation 
of  the  finite  ego  from  the  benign  and  holy  will  of  God. 
The  essence  of  sin  being  the  estrangement  of  man  from 
God  through  the  self-assertion  of  the  human  will,  in  a 
refusal  to  accept  a  Divine  order  of  life,  sin  is  regarded  as 

11  Tim.  1:15. 


136  Barrows  Lectures 

abnormal,  as  the  violation  of  our  true  nature,  not  the 
expression  of  it.  We  are  God's  offspring,  inheriting  His 
nature,  capable  of  correspondence  with  Him  in  will  and 
act.  When,  instead  of  this  correspondence,  there  are 
estrangement  and  alienation,  insubordinate  and  revolu- 
tionary purpose,  the  whole  order  of  life  is  dislocated, 
precipitating  on  all  sides  consequences  ruinous  and 
melancholy  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the 
interests  involved.  Such  is  the  Christian  conception  of 
sin.  Sin  is  not  a  necessary  part  of  the  economy  of  life, 
the  shadow  cast  by  righteousness ;  it  is  not  a  mere  failure 
to  attain  the  ideal,  a  mere  hereditary  disease,  a  dreary 
legacy  from  the  past.  Sin  is  abnormality,  dislocation  of 
the  natural  order,  lawlessness,  the  denial  of  the  Divine 
sovereignty  by  the  finite  ego.  I  have  been  much  im- 
pressed by  seeing  this  essentially  Christian  view  of  sin 
corroborated  by  a  Hindu  scholar  of  Ceylon,  who,  com- 
menting impressively  on  the  Christian  Gospel  of  St.  John 
declares:  "The  sense  of  sin  is  the  consciousness  of  non- 
conformity to  law."1 

If  Christianity  has  any  distinctive  contributions  to 
make  to  the  religious  experience  of  the  world,  surely 
one  of  them  is  its  revelation  of  the  nature  and  effects  of 
sin.  I  respect  all  that  the  non-Christian  faiths  have  con- 
tributed to  this  subject;  doubtless  every  point  of  view 
may  discover  some  new  aspect  of  a  theme  so  vast,  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  the  unfoldings  of  Christianity  concern- 
ing sin,  the  light  they  throw  on  some  of  the  darkest 
problems  of  mortal  existence,  and  the  verifications  of 
those  unfoldings  through  the  experience  of  innumerable 
Christians,  are  worthy  of  unprejudiced  examination  by 
all  who  feel  the  sorrow  of  human  life  and  long  for  its 

1  Sri  Paeananda,  Commentary  on  St.  John's  Gospel,  p.  50. 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     137 

alleviation.  Christianity,  starting  from  the  premise  that 
sin  is  an  abnormal  estrangement  of  the  finite  ego  from 
the  Infinite  Self,  discovers  that  sin  becomes  more  than  a 
succession  of  acts  of  erroneous  self-assertion ;  it  may 
deepen  into  a  permanent  attitude  of  the  will ;  a  constitu- 
tional state  of  character;  a  deliberate  and  habitual  aliena- 
tion from  the  life  of  God.  It  finds  that  that  alienation 
may  pass  from  non-repentance  to  insensibility;  the  con- 
science being  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron,  and  the  will  of 
the  ego  becoming  a  persistent  force,  working  for  the 
interruption  and  dislocation  of  the  Divine  order.  To 
make  these  statements  concerning  sin  in  a  formal  and 
academic  way  is  one  thing;  to  realise  what  they  imply 
for  the  individual  and  for  the  world  is  quite  another 
thing,  the  peculiar  product  of  Christian  experience. 

For  it  may  be  said  that  the  first  stages  of  the  Christian 
life  involve  new  and  heart-searching  insights  into  the 
nature  and  vastness  of  sin ;  and  the  progress  of  Christian 
experience  almost  may  be  measured  by  its  deepening 
appreciation  of  what  it  means  to  be  alienated  from  the 
life  of  God  by  wicked  works.  If  a  Christian  should 
venture,  as  I  do  at  this  present,  to  report  to  his  brother- 
men  some  of  the  things  made  clear  to  him  by  experience 
concerning  the  nature  of  sin,  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  he  is  claiming  either  superior  knowledge  or  superior 
sanctity.  On  the  contrary,  in  so  far  as  his  Christian 
experience  has  been  real,  it  has  destroyed  within  him  all 
sense  of  personal  merit;  has  deepened  his  feeling  of 
unworthiness;  has  rebuked  his  religious  pride;  has 
chastened  and  subdued  his  spirit;  has  brought  him  in 
contrition  and  submission  to  the  feet  of  Christ,  the 
Redeemer  of  the  sinful. 

Perhaps  the  first  effect  of  Christianity  upon  one  who 


138  Barrows  Lectures 

receives  its  message  concerning  sin  is  to  differentiate  sin 
from  outward  and  ceremonial  uncleanness,  and  to  locate 
it  in  the  very  citadel  of  selfhood,  as  a  moral  self-assertion 
of  the  ego  against  the  holy  will  of  God.  Christianity  by 
no  means  despises  ceremonial  propriety,  nor  denies  that 
one  may  find  moral  inspiration  in  conformity  to  the  out- 
ward letter  of  a  ritual  law;  yet  one  of  the  most  explicit 
teachings  of  Christ  is  that  ceremonial  propriety  is  but  the 
outward  means  to  the  inward  and  spiritual  end,  and  that 
sin  and  righteousness  exist  in  the  inward  life  toward  God. 
Sternly  He  rebukes  the  Pharisees  who  had  lost  the  inward 
sense  of  right  in  the  outward  function  of  ritual:  "Woe 
unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for  ye  tithe 
mint  and  anise  and  cummin  and  have  left  undone  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law;  judgment  and  mercy  and 
faith ;  but  these  ye  ought  to  have  done  and  not  to  have 
left  the  other  undone."1 

When  this  transfer  of  the  idea  of  sin  from  the  outward 
to  the  inward  life  has  taken  place,  then  begin  in  the  soul 
of  a  man  the  unfoldings  of  Christianity  as  to  the  nature 
and  effects  of  moral  evil.  The  essence  of  sin  having  been 
realised  as  the  self-assertion  of  the  finite  will  against  the 
Divine  order  of  life,  the  significance  of  that  erroneous 
self-assertion  is  made  plain  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the 
awakened  conscience  and  the  illuminated  mind.  Sin  is 
seen  in  its  relation  to  God;  in  its  relation  to  self;  in  its 
relation  to  society.  The  act  and  the  attitude  of  human 
sin  bring  the  sinner  into  a  relation  with  God  whereof  the 
distinctive  notes  are  selfishness  and  the  denial  of  sover- 
eignty. Sin,  in  the  last  analysis,  is  selfishness — the 
self-coronation  of  the  finite  ego  as  against  the  all-loving 
purpose  of  God.     As  such  it  is  the  denial  of  sovereignty. 

iMatt.  23:23. 


TJie  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     139 

All  that  God  is  goes  for  nothing  at  the  imperious  judg- 
ment-seat of  passionate  self-will.  The  far-reaching  wis- 
dom of  the  Infinite  Mind,  wherein  abide  the  counsels  of 
eternal  perfection ;  the  absolute  righteousness  of  purpose, 
incapable  of  the  smallest  defection  from  virtue ;  the 
rational  order  of  nature,  conceived  and  ordained  as  the 
method  of  a  successful  universe ;  the  Fatherly  love,  warm 
with  beneficence  and  sympathy;  the  holy  authority  to 
guide  and  to  govern — all  of  these  are  over- weighed 
by  passionate  desire,  all  disowned  and  repudiated  in 
the  interest  of  irresponsible  self-assertion.  Such  is 
the  sin  of  the  individual  in  its  relation  to  God:  the 
triumph  of  the  abnormal.  We  have  seen  that  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  finite  spirit  from  the  Infinite  Being  is  for  the 
complete  self-realisation  of  the  Divine  nature,  that  God 
may  find  perfect  self-expression  through  the  outgoings  of 
His  love  upon  finite  intelligence ;  we  have  seen  that  man 
is  endowed  with  attributes  of  personality  that  find  com- 
plete expression  only  in  communion  with  God,  and  that 
the  normal  order  involves  perfect  correspondence  and 
unity  of  the  human  and  the  Divine.  Behold  then  in  sin 
the  disruption  of  this  order,  the  dislocation  of  this  rela- 
tionship, the  substitution  of  a  disintegrating  selfishness 
for  the  correspondence  of  love. 

Sin  is  revealed  through  Christian  experience  in  its 
relation  to  the  sinner  himself,  as  well  as  in  its  relation  to 
God.  The  incentive  to  sin  is  some  supposed  good. 
When  the  finite  ego  asserts  itself  in  moral  choices  that 
violate  the  Divine  order  of  life,  it  does  so  because  influ- 
ences acting  from  within  or  from  without  have  made  sug- 
gestions sufn  ciently  powerful  to  induce  the  repudiation  of 
that  Divine  order.  A  life  wherein  sin  has  become  more 
than  an   occasional  act,   even   a   quality   of  character,   a 


140  Barrows  Lectures 

constitutional  mental  attitude,  learns  to  call  evil  its  good ; 
to  love  darkness  rather  than  light;  to  confirm  by  in- 
numerable repetitions  its  rejection  of  the  Divine  order ;  to 
harden  its  heart  against  God.  But  when  the  power  of 
essential  Christianity  lays  hold  of  such  a  life,  a  mighty 
self-revelation  ensues;  the  soul  long  dead  in  trespasses 
awakes  to  righteousness ;  scales  fall  from  the  moral  vision ; 
and  sin,  which  once,  under  the  illusions  of  passion,  seemed 
like  an  angel  of  light  leading  on  to  liberty,  now  is  seen 
to  be  man's  most  insidious  enemy,  seducing  him  through 
the  misapplication  of  his  powers  to  his  own  humiliation, 
sorrow,  and  destruction.  In  the  light  of  Christian  ex- 
perience every  sin  is  seen  to  have  been  a  blow  dealt  against 
oneself.  "He  that  sinneth  [against  the  Divine  Wisdom] 
wrongeth  his  own  soul."1  As  the  essence  of  sin  consists 
in  the  perverse  self-assertion  of  the  finite  ego,  so  every 
thought,  every  word,  every  deed  of  sin  is  in  the  nature  of 
a  perversion  of  self  to  wrong  uses,  and  all  perversion 
carries  with  it  the  curse  of  abnormality.  Sin  is  a  denial 
of  the  sovereignty  of  God;  but  it  is  also  an  assault  upon 
the  integrity  of  self. 

In  the  light  of  Christian  experience  sin  is  seen  also  as 
a  barrier  in  the  way  of  good.  "Your  sins,"  says  an  an- 
cient Scripture,  "have  withholden  good  things  from  you."1 
Terrible  verifications  of  that  saying  are  made  by  those 
who,  illuminated  at  last  by  the  power  of  Christianity, 
look  back  on  years  of  self-will,  spent  in  the  interest  of 
egoistic  ends  and  in  revolt  against  the  Divine  order  of 
life.  The  incentive  to  sin  was  the  pursuit  of  fancied 
good;  but,  in  the  clearer  light  that  attends  an  awakened 
conscience,  the  mad  self-assertion  of  the  ego  is  seen  to 
have  worked  for  the  narrowing  of  life;  for  the  dwarfing 

iProv.  8:36.  2  Jeremiah  5  :  25. 


TJw  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     141 

of  its  powers;  for  the  shutting  out  of  richer  good  and 
loftier  attainment  that  might  have  come  along  the  lines 
of  the  Divine  order.  Too  late,  alas!  many  find  how 
much  more  beautiful  and  heroic  life  might  have  been  had 
self-will  not  broken  away  from  the  Fatherly  will  of  God  to 
be  a  law  unto  itself;  had  passionate  impulse  not  sold  the 
birthright  of  a  son  of  God  for  brief  indulgence  to  be 
paid  for  in  long  repentance  and  bitterness  of  soul.  None 
can  estimate  the  good  that  is  lost  to  man,  that  becomes 
inaccessible  and  impossible,  by  reason  of  sin.  All  the 
ghastly  revenges  of  wrong-doing  that  are  working  them- 
selves out  in  every  land  and  under  every  religion,  for  those 
who  have  chosen  to  ignore  the  law  that  whatsoever  a  man 
soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap,  though  they  may  be  more 
obvious,  are  not  more  terrible  than  the  barriers  against 
good,  against  the  vigour  of  health,  and  the  exhilaration  of 
righteous  action,  and  the  joy  of  purity,  and  the  sunshine 
of  the  favour  of  God,  that  we  are  piling  up  around  our- 
selves by  our  sins. 

But,  from  the  point  of  view  of  Christianity,  the  dark 
indictment  of  sin  is  not  yet  fully  drawn.  When  we  have 
considered  sin,  in  its  relation  to  God,  as  the  essence  of 
selfishness  and  repudiation  of  sovereignty ;  and,  in  its  re- 
lation to  the  sinner  himself,  as  a  blow  dealt  at  his  own 
life,  a  barrier  between  him  and  good,  we  have  not  ex- 
hausted the  possibilities  of  moral  evil.  Another  sphere 
of  influence  remains,  possibly  the  most  terrible,  certainly 
the  most  pathetic.  I  mean  the  sin  of  individuals  in  its 
relation  to  other  individuals  and  to  society.  If  sin  were 
a  taint  within  the  life  only  of  him  who  sins,  a  secret  of 
iniquity  shut  up  within  the  single  soul,  a  story  of  sorrow 
closing  at  the  grave  and  sealed  up  in  the  tomb  of  the 
dead,  human  history  would  be  far  less  terrible  than  it  is. 


142  Barrows  Lectures 

But  sin  is  an  infection  spread  by  the  one  among  the  many ; 
a  plague  smiting  the  innocent  as  well  as  the  guilty ;  a 
curse  harrowing  children  and  children's  children  with  their 
fathers'  iniquity ;  a  blight  so  subtle,  so  persistent,  so  ex- 
pansive that  communities  and  races  and  nations  may  reap 
a  harvest  of  injustice  and  sorrow  from  the  seed-sowing 
of  unrighteousness  by  the  hands  of  a  few  evil  leaders. 
Men  sin  and  repent ;  but  the  self -propagating  fruit  of 
their  wrongs  may  be  beyond  recall,  rooted  irrevocably  in 
other  lives.  Men  sin  and  die;  but  their  crimes  survive, 
in  a  malignant  immortality  of  consequences. 

It  is  impossible  for  a  disciple  of  Christ  not  to  feel  that 
the  most  awful  and  most  lamentable  aspect  of  sin  is  not 
personal,  but  social;  not  the  mere  guilt  or  the  mere 
destruction  of  the  actual  sinner,  but  the  menace  to  society 
involved  in  the  presence  of  all  sin  and  in  the  person  of 
every  sinner.  For  Christ  viewed  human  lives  not  as 
detached  units  travelling  through  time  by  separate  tracks, 
and  parted  the  one  from  the  other  by  invisible  walls  of 
individuality.  Nothing  more  truly  represents  Christ's 
point  of  view  than  the  dictum  of  one  of  His  Apostles, 
"None  of  us  liveth  to  himself,"1  together  with  the  apos- 
tolic symbol  of  the  human  body  with  its  many  members, 
interrelated,  interdependent,  every  one  so  related  to  the 
others  that  if  one  member  suffers  all  the  members  suffer 
with  it.2  In  the  view  of  Christ  even  to  love  God  does  not 
constitute  the  sum  of  religion.  He  parallels  love  to  God 
with  a  companion  duty  which  affirms  the  social  nature  of 
His  religion.  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy  mind 
and  with  all  thy  strength ;  this  is  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment."    "And,"  He  continues,  "the  second  is  this; 

i  Rom.  14  :  17.  2  Cf.  1  Cor.  12  :  14-27. 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     143 

thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."1  His  own  In- 
carnation was  an  embodiment  and  an  interpretation  of 
these  coequal  commandments — an  epitome  of  religious 
and  social  law  for  the  whole  world.  Turning  Godward,  He 
said:  "My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me  and 
to  accomplish  His  work."2  Turning  manward,  He  cried, 
in  words  that  have  done  more  than  we  know  to  draw  the 
world  unto  Himself:  "The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be 
ministered  unto  but  to  minister  and  to  give  His  life  a 
ransom  for  many."3 

Such  being  the  point  of  view  of  the  Founder  of  Chris- 
tianity, it  follows  of  necessity  that  sin  is  something  more 
complex  than  the  offense  of  an  individual  against  God 
and  a  wrong  against  his  own  better  self.  Sin  is  a  social 
offense;  a  wrong  done  to  society;  a  wounding  of  the 
corporate  life  of  mankind;  a  contribution  of  unknown 
magnitude  to  the  humiliation,  debasement,  suffering,  and 
evil  impulse  of  the  world. 

Not  that  the  repentance  of  the  one  who  sins  is  mini- 
mised in  the  thought  of  Christ.  On  the  contrary,  never, 
in  the  eagerness  of  His  love  for  the  well-being  of  society, 
does  He  lose  sight  of  the  individual,  however  humble  or 
however  base.  "There  is  joy,"  He  says,  "in  the  presence 
of  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth."4 
But  the  penitence  of  a  sinner,  however  important  and 
welcome  in  itself,  cannot  undo  the  malign  social  con- 
sequences of  a  life  of  sin.  And  alas!  the  world  is  full, 
and  for  ages  has  been  full,  of  sinners  that  repented  not, 
but  went  on  by  every  form  of  abnormal  conduct,  unbridled 
indulgence,  unfraternal  enmity,  and  stony-hearted  selfish- 
ness, to  corrupt  and  devastate  the  corporate  life  of  man- 

1  Mark  12  :  30,  31.  2  John  4  :  34. 

3  M  att.  20 :  28.  *  Luke  15 :  10. 


144  Barrows  Lectures 

kind  by  spreading  the  plague  of  sin.  Although  I  speak 
in  the  phraseology  of  a  Christian,  my  thought  is  broad  as 
humanity  itself.  Its  truth  must  be  acknowledged  by  all 
men  of  intelligence  and  feeling,  as  they  review  the  history 
of  the  world  and  contemplate  its  present  estate.  There 
is  none,  be  he  Hindu,  or  Buddhist,  or  Moslem,  or  Parsi, 
or  Jew,  or  Christian,  who  denies  the  social  interdependence 
of  mankind,  or  doubts  the  truth  that  moral  evil  spreads 
like  a  plague  from  life  to  life;  taints  with  a  common 
malady  the  guiltless  and  the  unclean;  hangs  like  a  pall 
over  West  and  East ;  presses  an  overflowing  cup  of  bitter- 
ness to  the  unwilling  lips  of  humanity. 

Think  with  me  this  thought,  my  brothers;  though  we 
think  in  different  languages,  and  in  the  terms  of  different 
faiths,  still  may  we  think  together  this  thought ;  for  there 
is  kinship  in  it ;  there  is  universality  in  it ;  the  kinship  of 
a  common  burden;  the  universality  of  a  common  aspira- 
tion for  power,  deliverance,  and  salvation.  We  may 
phrase  that  aspiration  variously,  but  in  essence  it  is  a 
common  aspiration,  and  in  its  presence  all  religious  rival- 
ries should  die  away  and  we  should  hear  one  another,  as 
workers  at  a  common  problem,  if  perchance  any  man  have 
some  contribution  toward  its  solution  that  is  not  local  and 
sectarian,  but  universal.  Turning  away,  therefore,  from 
our  differences,  rising  above  the  disposition  to  assail  the 
faith  or  the  practice  of  one  another,  daring  to  believe  in 
the  essential  kinship  of  all  earnest  souls,  and  the  essential 
oneness  of  all  truth,  may  our  thoughts  commune  in 
love! 

As  we  find  ourselves  in  the  opening  years  of-  the  twen- 
tieth century  since  the  Incarnation  of  Christ,  we  are  con- 
scious that  strong  men  everywhere  are  grappling  with  the 
problem  of  existence.     In  the  universities  of  the  East  and 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     145 

of  the  West,  in  the  press,  on  the  platform,  in  the  private 
intercourse  of  serious  men,  one  word  is  uppermost,  one 
theme  is  paramount.  That  word,  that  theme,  is  Life. 
Events  and  persons  cross  the  field  of  public  attention  in 
ceaseless  procession.  They  arise,  they  advance,  they  fill 
for  an  hour  the  public  eye,  they  retire  and  give  place  to 
others,  to  be,  in  their  turn,  forgotten.  But  Life,  the  con- 
dition precedent  of  all  persons  and  events;  Life,  the  state 
of  existence  whereof  persons  and  events  are  momentary 
interpretations,  is  the  vast  underlying  problem,  interest 
in  which  never  flags.  To  explore  the  hidden  springs 
whence  it  emerges;  to  analyse  the  contributory  forces 
that  make  it  what  it  is ;  to  know  the  causes  that  determine 
its  modes  of  expression,  the  laws  that  govern  its  func- 
tions, the  ends  that  are  served  by  its  characteristic  forms 
of  action,  the  obstacles  that  impede  its  course,  the  ocean 
of  destiny  that  awaits  its  consummation;  upon  this  the 
strongest  thought  of  our  time  is  fastening  its  attention. 
But  is  it  anything  new  that  men  should  grapple  with  the 
problem  of  existence?  When  have  they  not  done  so? 
What  age  has  not  had  its  seers,  whose  souls  were  like  stars 
and  dwelt  apart;  whose  eyes,  purged  by  wisdom,  gazed 
beyond  the  phantasmal  play  of  superficial  incidents  into 
the  reasons  of  things,  probing  the  mysteries  of  birth  and 
rebirth,  of  sorrow  and  joy,  of  death  and  immortality! 
What  are  the  Vedas  and  the  Upanishads  and  the  Gita 
but  illustrious  fruits  of  illustrious  minds  that  in  ages  past 
have  grappled  with  the  problem  of  existence?  Who  are 
Confucius  and  the  Buddha,  and  the  seers  of  Zarathush- 
trianism,  and  the  Semitic  prophets,  but  souls  inspired  by 
the  One  Spirit  of  the  ever-living  God  to  ascend  into  the 
watch-towers  of  contemplation  and  peer  into  the  enshroud- 
ing mystery  of  Life!     There  is  nothing  new  in  the  fact 


146  Barrows  Lectures 

that  in  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century  strong  men  of 
every  faith  are  grappling  with  the  problem  of  existence. 

But,  in  this  new  century,  one  seems  to  hear  the  deep- 
ening vibration  of  a  new  note  and  to  feel  that,  in  ever- 
increasing  numbers,  strong  men  are  grappling  in  a  new 
way  with  the  perennial  mystery  of  Life.  It  may  be  said, 
broadly — but,  I  think,  with  perfect  fidelity  to  the  historic 
facts — that  the  prevailing  note  in  the  great  thought- 
movements  of  pre-Christian  religions,  and,  to  no  small  ex- 
tent, in  certain  very  important  schools  of  Christian  thought, 
has  been  the  note  of  sadness  and  the  aspiration  for  escape 
from  a  present  mode  of  existence  in  which  evil  is  a  neces- 
sary condition.  "Since  to  be  is  to  suffer — sorrow  being 
of  the  very  essence  of  life — existence  is  to  be  abhorred  and 
renounced."1  The  thirst  for  existence  is  to  be  quenched; 
the  whole  energy  of  the  mind  is  to  be  concentrated  on  the 
attainment  of  a  future  state,  which  by  some  has  been  con- 
templated as  the  completion  of  personality ;  by  others,  as 
its  extinction;  by  all,  as  a  desirable  release  from  an  evil 
and  intolerable  present.  I  speak  of  this  with  the  greatest 
reverence  and  appreciation.  Joined  with  this  note  of  sad- 
ness are  some  of  the  loftiest  and  most  tender  interpreta- 
tions of  conduct  in  the  present  life  the  world  has  ever 
known;  and  the  loftiest  and  most  tender  of  them  all  have 
sprung  from  the  seers  of  India. 

But,  as  I  listen  attentively  to  the  thought-movement 
of  the  present  time,  I  seem  to  hear,  from  an  increasing 
number  of  those  gathered  out  of  all  faiths  who  are  grap- 
pling with  the  problem  of  existence,  that  old  note  of  sad- 
ness and  that  old  aspiration  for  escape  gradually  and 
sweetly  changing  into  a  new  note  and  a  new  aspiration. 
The  new  note  is  the  major  note  of  hope,  rising  in  courage 

i  Slater,  Higher  Hinduism,  p.  207. 


TJie  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     147 

above  the  minor  note  of  sadness.  The  new  aspiration 
breathes  itself  forth  in  the  purpose  to  redeem  this  present 
life  rather  than  to  escape  from  it;  not  to  get  away  from 
this  evil  and  sorrowful  world,  but  to  make  this  world  less 
evil  and  less  sorrowful,  a  better  place  to  live  in;  the 
aspiration  to  live  after  a  nobler  fashion  in  the  world  that 
now  is,  by  lifting  up  the  masses  of  the  people,  by  giving 
them  new  hope,  new  inspiration,  new  motive.  I  find  an 
enormous  increase  of  this  type  of  thought  and  feeling  in 
all  lands.  In  not  a  few  cases  it  professes  to  be  purely 
humanitarian  and  secular,  a  non-religious  social  reform; 
in  other  cases  it  is  distinctly  religious,  the  application  of 
religion  to  the  life  that  now  is,  to  make  that  life  every- 
where more  worth  living.  Yet,  as  I  listen  attentively  to 
that  note  of  hope  and  that  aspiration  for  social  redemp- 
tion, as  I  see  men  rising  up  everywhere  who  believe  that 
life  is  worth  living,  if  only  it  can  be  emancipated  from  the 
thralldom  of  sorrow  and  the  tyranny  of  pessimism  that 
have  bound  it  in  the  past ;  and  that  the  people  are  capable 
of  being  redeemed  to  better  things,  if  only  the  latent 
spark  of  the  Divine  Nature  in  them  can  be  fanned  into 
self -consciousness ;  I  realise  with  delight  that,  though  we 
know  it  not,  all  we  who,  in  common,  desire  this  redemp- 
tion of  the  world  are,  in  our  deepest  thought,  looking  to 
One  God  to  help  us  bring  this  thing  about.  By  many 
modes  of  expression  have  our  hearts  gone  out  toward  Him, 
yet  He  has  understood  us  all ;  by  various  names  have  we 
described  Him  to  ourselves,  yet  He  knew  the  thought 
that  veiled  itself  within  the  Name;  and  He,  the  Maker 
and  Lover  of  the  world,  hears  the  prayer  of  hearts 
wherein  He  has  planted  love  and  hope  and  the  spirit  of 
brotherhood.  I  believe  that  many  a  secularist  reformer 
shares  in  this  yearning  after  God's  help  in  the  redemp- 


148  Barrows  Lectures 

tion  of  the  world ;  for  secularism,  which  is  avowed  reaction 
from  God,  sometimes  is  but  the  revolt  of  godlike  hearts 
from  the  unrealities  and  tyrannies  and  inconsistencies  of 
conventional  religion;  and  its  renunciation  of  these  may 
mean  only  its  deeper  yearning  after  One  who,  behind  all 
unrealities,  remains  utterly  real,  and,  beneath  all  falsities, 
utterly  true. 

The  new  note  of  hope  is  rising  as  the  century  opens. 
The  new  aspiration  for  the  betterment  of  the  world  and 
the  redemption  of  the  people  swells  like  a  tide  over 
divisive  landmarks  and  joins  kindred  spirits  in  the  one 
appeal  to  God  to  help  us  to  help  mankind.  It  is  possible 
to  point  to  causes  that  have  helped  to  bring  about  this 
state  of  feeling.  Not  by  chance  is  it  that  the  incoming 
century  finds  so  many  thousands  of  souls,  representing  all 
the  greater  nations  and  the  greater  faiths  of  East  and 
West,  filled  with  the  conviction  that  the  world  is  capable 
of  being  made  better;  that  humanity  has  the  right  to  be 
redeemed;  that  sin  is  the  social  plague  that  blasts  human 
life;  and  that  they  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the 
infirmities  of  the  weak  and  not  to  please  themselves.  Not 
by  chance  is  it  that  strong  men  everywhere,  from  the 
Ganges  to  the  Mississippi,  are  taking  a  deeper  moral 
interest  in  the  life  that  now  is  and  are  not  turning  from 
it  in  disgust,  to  escape  to  a  life  that  is  to  be.  Three  great 
forces — two  of  them  positive,  one  of  them  negative — are 
contributing  to  this  state  of  things:  an  increasing  knowl- 
edge of  better  ways  of  living;  an  increasing  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  human  life;  and  an  increasing  sense  of 
the  discrepancy  between  what  the  present  life  might  be 
for  the  masses  of  mankind,  and  what  in  fact  it  is. 

During  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century 
physical  science,  by  its  researches  and  discoveries  in  the 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     149 

field  of  matter,  by  its  applications  of  natural  law  for  the 
convenience  and  protection  of  man,  and  by  its  disclosure 
and  treatment  of  the  causes  of  bodily  suffering,  has 
enhanced  beyond  computation  the  comfort  and  excellence 
of  existence  in  this  world.  Vast  fields  of  new  knowledge 
have  been  opened  and  explored;  the  uses  of  steam  and 
electricity  have  enlarged  the  range  of  possible  action  for 
the  individual,  while  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  sani- 
tation and  the  triumphs  of  modern  surgery  point  to  an 
alleviation  of  human  distress  that  may  in  the  future 
exceed  our  present  dreams.  The  world  has  become 
physically  a  better  place  to  live  in.  Many  evils  long  held 
to  be  inevitable,  and  ascribed  to  the  operations  of  malig- 
nant fate,  now  are  seen  to  be  results  of  ignorance  or  per- 
versity, preventable  by  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  or 
curable  by  medical  skill.  Many  barriers  to  social  advance- 
ment, long  supposed  to  be  insurmountable,  have  been 
swept  away.  The  healing  touch  of  a  benign  science  is 
reaching  out  toward  every  bed  of  pain;  and  into  lands 
and  races  remote  from  the  centres  of  modern  research  the 
renovating  influence  of  sanitation  is  projecting  itself. 

Parallel  with  this  perception  of  better  ways  of  living 
has  grown  the  appreciation  of  the  value  of  human  life. 
The  study  of  human  life  has  become  a  science,  and  the 
forces  making  for  the  advancement  or  the  degeneration  of 
races,  families,  and  individuals  are  being  investigated  and 
classified.  The  blessing  of  education  and  the  curse  of 
illiteracy  are  questioned  nowhere  outside  of  the  zone  of 
barbarism.  Wherever  intelligence,  coupled  with  moral 
sanity,  asserts  itself,  there  the  intrinsic  value  of  a  man's 
life,  a  woman's  life,  a  child's  life,  is  recognised.  Not  yet 
has  the  world  advanced  beyond  the  sacrifice  of  life  in  war ; 
but    the    deepening  horror  in  view  of    that   sacrifice  is 


150  Barrows  Lectures 

unquestionable,  and  the  growth  of  a  public  sentiment 
against  it  is  becoming  as  conspicuous  as  long  since  it 
became  against  the  degradation  of  life  by  slavery.  The 
coming  in  of  the  twentieth  century  finds  the  world  girdled 
with  effort  to  protect  weakness  from  neglect,  innocence 
from  criminal  profanation,  childhood  from  cruelty,  defense- 
lessness  from  tyranny,  poverty  from  oppression.  The 
saving  of  imperilled  life  is  rewarded  with  approbation 
and  honour ;  and  the  duty  of  sustaining  life  in  the  poorest 
and  feeblest  of  the  race  is  made  an  axiom  of  civilisation. 
But  while  these  two  positive  influences,  promoted  by 
the  growth  of  a  cosmopolitan  spirit  (which,  permit  me  to 
say,  is  illustrated  nobly  in  a  large  section  of  the  native 
press  of  India),  have  contributed  to  the  new  aspiration 
for  the  betterment  of  the  world  and  the  redemption  of  the 
people,  there  is  a  third  influence,  negative  in  its  character, 
that  has  worked  for  the  same  end.  It  is  an  increasing 
sense  of  the  discrepancy  between  what  the  present  life 
might  be  for  the  masses  of  mankind,  and  what  in  fact  it 
is.  The  augmented  knowledge  of  better  ways  of  living, 
and  the  deepening  sense  of  the  value  and  the  sacredness 
of  every  human  life,  only  set  forth  in  more  tremendous 
contrast  the  existing  wretchedness,  sorrow,  and  moral 
disability  of  the  world.  The  people  are  not  saved;  sin, 
the  potent  cause  of  misery  and  degeneration,  is  not  con- 
quered; the  plague  is  not  stayed.  Because  we  know  so 
well  the  better  modes  of  living  and  the  large  ranges  of 
possibility  opened  to  modern  life  through  the  advancement 
of  knowledge,  it  seems  the  more  terrible  that  incalculable 
multitudes  live  on,  unreached  even  by  the  physical  advan- 
tages that  are  doing  so  much  for  others;  untouched  even 
by  the  bodily  salvation  that  means  health  and  courage. 
Because  we  believe  the  intrinsic  value,  in  the  sight  of 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     151 

God,  of  every  human  creature  that  lives  upon  this  earth, 
it  seems  the  more  piteous  that  everywhere  are  beings,  in 
whom  are  buried  potentialities  of  Divine  communion, 
living  and  dying  without  God  and  without  hope  in  the 
world.  It  is  a  thought  that  makes  us  forget  whether  we 
are  Hindus  or  Christians,  and  remember  only  that  we  are 
men  and  that  these  are  men  whom  we  would  save;  and 
all  that  is  best  within  us  utters  itself  in  one  great  cry  to 
the  Infinite  One,  whose  world  this  is,  whose  children  these 
are,  that  He  would  stretch  forth  the  hand  of  love  and 
power  to  save  His  own. 

When  wilt  Thou  save  the  people  ? 

O  God  of  mercy,  when  ? 
Not  kings  and  lords,  but  nations ! 

Not  thrones  and  crowns,  but  men! 
Flowers  of  Thy  heart,  O  God,  are  they; 

Let  them  not  pass,  like  weeds,  away, 
Their  heritage  a  sunless  day; 
God  save  the  people ! 

When  wilt  thou  save  the  people  ? 

O  God  of  mercy,  when  f 
The  people,  Lord,  the  people, 

Not  thrones  and  crowns,  but  men  ! 
God  save  the  people ;  Thine  they  are, 
Thy  children,  as  Thine  angels  fair ; 
From  vice,  oppression  and  despair, 
God  save  the  people ! l 

As  the  situation  outlines  itself  upon  our  imagination: 
on  the  one  hand,  all  this  wealth  of  knowledge  for  the 
betterment  of  our  present  existence,  and  all  this  apprecia- 
tion of  the  value  and  sacredness  of  life ;  on  the  other 
hand,  humanity  groaning  and  travailing  in  sin  and  sorrow, 
oppressed  with  a  moral  inertia  that  defies  all  philosophy 

'Ebenezes  Elliott  (1781-1849). 


152  Barrows  Lectures 

and  baffles  all  science,  the  question  forces  itself  on  every 
thoughtful  mind:  What  is  lacking  ?  Wherefore  does  the 
world  remain  sunken  in  an  apathy  of  woe,  and  possessed 
of  the  demon  of  self-destruction,  while  knowledge  grows 
from  more  to  more,  and  social  sympathy  wells  like  a  living 
spring  from  tens  of  thousands  of  godlike  hearts  ?  What 
is  lacking  ?  To  that  question  I  make  answer,  speaking, 
not  with  the  doubtful  authority  of  dogmatism,  but  with 
the  humble  certitude  of  experience  gathered  in  the  actual 
field  of  life  itself.  Power  is  lacking,  dynamic  force,  to 
cope  with  this  mystery  of  existence  ;  power  to  overcome 
the  force  that  is  making  existence  a  weary  round  of  sorrow 
and  discouragement  for  the  masses  of  mankind ;  power  to 
bring  the  world  to  a  better  state  of  living;  power  to  lift 
things,  to  make  things  morally  new,  to  overcome  evil  with 
good,  to  fight  sin  as  the  great  social  foe  as  well  as  the 
great  individual  enemy.  From  the  beginning  man  has 
conceived  of  power,  an  illimitable  moral  and  spiritual 
dynamic,  as  the  most  glorious  of  possibilities;  and  the 
history  of  religion  is  the  history  of  his  yearnings  for  that 
heavenly  gift.  As  I  review  the  history  of  religion,  I  am 
conscious  of  the  persistence  of  that  noble  yearning;  it  is 
as  the  throbbing  of  the  blood  royal  in  the  heart  of  man 
in  whom  is  the  seed  of  God.  But,  until  beneath  the 
Syrian  sky  descends  to  earth  that  Day-Spring  from  on 
hio"h,  who  came  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness 
and  the  shadow  of  death,  and  to  guide  our  feet  into  the 
way  of  peace;  until  Christ  the  Very  God  appeared, 
announcing,  in  the  mystery  of  His  Incarnation,  that  the 
gift  of  power  is  for  the  life  that  now  is,  the  noblest 
aspirations  of  religion  spent  themselves  in  expectation  of 
the  future,  rather  than  in  redemption  of  the  present. 
Amidst  many  variations  of  expression,  as  the  great  seers 


TJie  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     153 

of  the  pre-Christian  ages  grappled  with  the  problem  of 
our  present  existence,  the  one  common  note  was  sadness, 
the  sadness  of  those  who  dealt  with  a  baffling  and  weari- 
some illusion,  or  who,  bound  to  the  unpitying  wheel  of 
necessity,  must  endure  unto  the  day  of  their  release,  when 
the  hindering  bonds  of  ignorance  should  be  loosed  and 
the  burden  of  individuality  should  be  taken  away.  How 
deeply  I  sympathise  with  those  heroic  conceptions  of 
soul-union  with  the  blessed  Brahma  and  with  those  lofty 
refusals  to  fix  the  affections  on  transitory  and  evanescent 
incidents  of  time! 

It  is  evident  that  those  conceptions  could  not  give,  and 
were  not  intended  to  give,  a  moral  and  spiritual  dynamic 
for  the  redemption  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  for  the 
salvation  of  society  from  the  ravages  of  sin.  They  served 
other  ends;  contributed  in  other  ways  to  the  needs  of  the 
religious  nature;  and  so  long  as  present  existence  is 
regarded  as  illusory,  and  the  aim  of  the  individual  as 
escape  from  that  illusion,  the  sufficiency  of  those  concep- 
tions is  obvious. 

But,  through  the  operation  of  forces  characteristic  of 
the  present  age,  and  increasing  in  authority  and  influence 
every  day — forces  by  no  means  wholly  religious,  but 
rather  scientific  and  sociological  —  a  new  view  of  the  ex- 
cellence and  desirableness  of  our  present  existence  begins 
to  prevail.  A  new  appreciation  of  the  sacredness  and 
significance  of  every  human  life ;  a  new  conviction  that 
life  is  worth  living,  and  that  every  creature  has  the  right 
to  share  in  its  goodness;  a  new  realisation  that  sin  is  not 
a  theological  fiction,  but  a  personal  curse  and  a  social 
plague,  is  spreading  abroad  through  all  lands  wherever 
men  of  education  and  moral  dignity  are  to  be  found. 
These  convictions  are  taking  hold  with  new  force  of  the 


154  Barrows  Lectures 

best  life  of  America  and  England  quite  as  much  as  of  the 
best  life  of  India  or  Japan.  They  are  not  local  or  racial; 
much  less  are  they  denominational  or  sectarian:  they  are 
products  of  that  one  great  commonwealth  of  moral  earnest- 
ness wherein  all  true  hearts,  regardless  of  creed,  language, 
tradition,  or  colour,  meet  one  another  on  the  basis  of 
citizenship  in  a  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  There  are 
those  who  tell  us  that  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  between 
East  and  West,  that  mutual  understanding,  with  com- 
munity of  feeling  and  action,  are  impossible.1  I  admit 
with  sorrow  that  there  are  alienating  forces  at  work,  politi- 
cal and  economic,  to  keep  the  East  and  West  apart;  but 
that  there  is  a  psychological  and  ethical  chasm  existent  in 
the  nature  of  things,  I  shall  not  believe  so  long  as  my 
heart  beats  its  involuntary  response  to  so  much  that  I  read 
in  the  editorials  of  your  native  press  concerning  education 
and  virtue  and  the  service  of  humanity.  I  know  that 
there  are  multitudes  of  noble  souls  in  India  who  share 
these  convictions  of  the  value  of  life,  the  rights  of  men, 
the  plague  of  moral  evil;  and  who  are  looking,  as  all 
good  men  are  looking,  for  some  power  capable  of  wrest- 
ling with  the  destructive  forces  that  oppress  and  devastate 
society;  capable  of  lifting  men's  hearts  from  the  apathy 
caused  by  sin  and  its  consequent  sorrow,  and  impregnat- 
ing them  with  the  elements  of  hope  and  belief  in  the 
present  love  of  God. 

It  is  then  not  an  academic  question,  but  a  practical 
question;  not  a  matter  for  theological  theorists,  but  the 
affair  of  earnest  men:  Is  there  any  such  dynamic? 
Where  is  it  to  be  found?  Who  has  it  to  give?  Once 
more  I  say,  that  to  this  question  I  make  answer.  And 
my  answer  involves  a  statement  of  fact  that  may  be  tested 

1  Cf.  Meredith  Townsend,  Asia  and  Europe,  passim. 


TJie  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     155 

by  experience,  verified  or  refuted.  It  contains  no  ele- 
ment of  sectarian  zeal  and  no  trace  of  controversial  animus. 
It  bears  upon  a  matter  of  common  interest,  of  common 
humanity — the  salvation  of  the  world  from  sin,  sorrow, 
and  degeneration.  This  concerns  Indians  or  Japanese 
quite  as  much  as  Englishmen  or  Americans. 

My  answer  is  this,  that,  so  far  as  I  know,  there  is  no 
such  dynamic  as  that  of  which  we  all  feel  the  need,  no 
power  competent  to  deal  with  the  situation,  no  might 
great  enough  to  grapple  with  the  moral  evil  that  is  keep- 
ing the  world  out  of  its  heritage  of  good,  no  force  strong 
enough  to  stay  the  plague  of  sin  and  raise  sinners  into  the 
joy  and  health  of  righteousness,  but  that  which  comes  to 
the  world  in  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Holy  Sacrifice  for  man. 

This,  I  repeat,  is  a  statement  of  fact,  that  can  be  tested 
by  experience,  verified  or  refuted.  To  make  this  answer 
involves  not  in  the  slightest  degree  the  discrediting  of  any 
other  religion.  It  casts  no  aspersion  upon  Sri  Gauranga, 
or  the  Buddha,  or  Confucius,  or  any  other  saintly  name 
loved  and  honoured  among  the  children  of  men.  It  rec- 
ognises gratefully  all  that  these  have  done,  and  by  their 
influence  are  doing,  to  impart  courage  and  consolation. 
It  affirms  only  that,  if,  as  men  who  bear  upon  their  souls 
the  burden  of  the  world's  condition,  we  yearn  for  some 
power  wherewith  to  deal  with  that  condition,  some  power 
that  can  break  through  apathy,  convince  of  sin,  awaken 
moral  obedience,  inspire  hope,  and  lift  to  higher  things, 
the  facts  of  experience  and  the  rational  suggestions 
springing  from  those  facts  point  to  Christ,  and  to  Him 
alone,  as  the  source  of  such  power. 

As  one  who  reveres  religion  in  all  its  manifold  forms; 
who  honours  the  sincerity  of  those  whose  faiths  he  cannot 
share;    who  stands  rebuked    before  the   greater  fidelity 


156  Barrows  Lectures 

and  consistency  of  many  non-Christian  believers;  I  am 
forced  by  experience  and  by  reason  to  the  conviction  that, 
whatever  comfort  and  inspiration  there  are  in  other  faiths, 
it  is  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  Christ  alone  to  give 
salvation  from  sin  to  the  individual  life,  and  to  redeem 
society  from  the  moral  burdens  now  pressing  upon  it. 
Others,  as  well  as  He,  have  led  beautiful  and  gentle 
lives  that  are  an  example  to  the  world.  Others,  as  well 
as  He,  have  been  great  teachers,  whose  counsels  sank  into 
the  hearts  of  their  disciples;  whose  thoughts  glowed  as 
with  heavenly  fire ;  whose  words  descend  in  undiminished 
power,  from  generation  to  generation.  Others,  as  well  as 
He,  have  wrought  miraculous  deeds,  that  drew  men  in 
homage  to  their  feet.  Others,  as  well  as  He,  have  laid 
down  their  lives  for  the  truth,  going  in  meekness  and 
magnanimity  to  untimely  graves,  sealing  their  testimony 
with  their  blood.  Others,  as  well  as  He,  live  on  in  the 
memories  of  their  followers;  their  names  fragrant  as 
ointment  poured  forth;  their  influence  a  perpetual  in- 
centive to  righteousness.  But  Christ,  and  He  alone, 
abides,  as  the  ages  come  and  go;  not  as  the  beautiful 
memory,  not  as  the  brilliant  teacher,  not  as  the  hero  of 
a  sacred  tradition,  but  as  the  life-giving  Spirit,  present 
in  the  world,  dealing  with  the  lives  of  men,  and  day  by 
day  repeating  in  a  thousand  souls  those  miracles  of  grace, 
beside  which  the  opening  of  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  the 
unstopping  of  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  are  but  momentary 
physical  prophecies;  even  the  breaking  asunder  of  the 
bands  of  sin;  the  washing  away  of  moral  stains;  the  re- 
birth of  the  spiritual  sense ;  the  new  creation  of  motive 
and  impulse  and  aspiration;  the  transformation  of  char- 
acter; the  leading  forth  of  regenerated  self-consciousnesa 
out  of  darkness,  into  His  marvellous  Light. 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     157 

I  am  asserting  nothing  that  is  not  openly  known. 
These  facts  stand  in  the  common  highway  of  human  expe- 
rience, verified  in  the  lives  of  living  men  of  all  nations 
and  kindreds  and  peoples  and  tongues.  They  came  out 
of  different  races;  their  ancestors  diverged  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth;  they  were  nourished  in  faiths,  in  customs,  in 
social  and  political  conditions,  absolutely  unrelated ;  they 
were  aliens  to  one  another  in  language,  in  colour,  in 
earthly  station;  some  were  princes,  some  were  slaves; 
some  were  bowed  with  the  load  of  years,  some  erect  in 
the  vigour  of  youth;  they  had  in  common  only  the  taint 
of  moral  evil,  the  torturing  slavery  of  sin,  the  sorrow  of 
an  abused  and  dishonoured  selfhood.  And  He,  lifted  up 
above  all  distinctions  of  race,  religion,  social  estate,  or 
degree  of  iniquity,  drew  them  all  unto  Himself,  and  gave 
forth  to  them  all  the  selfsame  gift  of  forgiving  love  and 
regenerating  power,  whereby  they  became  new  creatures 
in  Him,  their  world  a  new  world,  their  hope  a  new  hope, 
their  life  a  new  life. 

Who  else  but  Christ  has  this  power  today — this  power 
which,  more  than  all  else,  the  world  needs?  Who  else 
but  Christ  has  this  ability  to  confer  redemption  that 
makes  the  strangers  or  the  foes  of  yesterday  brothers  in 
a  new  bond  of  love  today  ?  Who  else  can  stay  the  plague 
of  passion  that  eats  out  the  heart  of  life;  who  break  the 
fetters  of  pernicious  habit  and  grant  a  liberty  that  is  like 
a  resurrection  from  the  dead;  who  change  the  motives, 
not  of  an  individual  alone,  but  of  an  entire  community, 
eradicating  old  vices  of  hatred  and  selfishness,  implanting 
sweet  desires  of  charity  and  holiness;  and  doing  all,  not 
with  violence,  but  in  silent  gentleness,  like  the  powers  of 
sun  and  air  that  work  the  miracle  of  growth  ? 

Who,  then,  is  This  that  holds  this  power  over  men, 


158  Barrows  Lectures 

this  creative  authority  over  life?  Who  is  This  that, 
everywhere  present  in  the  world,  does  what  none  other 
does,  what  none  other  ever  has  done  or  claimed  to  do? 
Who  is  This  that  makes  all  things  new;  that  transforms 
men  into  new  creations,  drawing  unto  Himself  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth  them  that  are  weary  and  heavy-laden 
with  the  sin  of  life?  Hearken  to  His  own  testimony 
concerning  Himself:  "I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega, 
saith  the  Lord  God,  Which  is  and  Which  was  and  Which 
is  to  come ;  the  Almighty.  I  am  the  First  and  the  Last, 
and  the  Living  One;  and  I  was  dead,  and  behold,  I  am 
alive  for  evermore,  and  I  have  the  keys  of  Death.  I  am 
the  Resurrection  and  the  Life;  he  that  believeth  on  Me, 
though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live;  and  whosoever  liveth 
and  believeth  on  Me,  shall  never  die."1 

He  came  in  the  fullness  of  time,  emerging  from  the 
self-knowing  depths  of  Infinite  Personality,  clothing  His 
Essence  in  the  garment  of  veritable  humanity.  He 
came,  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill ;  not  to  trample  on  more 
ancient  faiths;  not  to  set  at  naught  Hebrew  prophet  or 
Vedic  seer;  not  to  abolish  and  condemn  beliefs  and  hopes 
precious  to  Aryan  seekers  after  God.  He  came  to  gather 
together  in  one  all  the  scattered  elements  of  truth,  incar- 
nating them  in  Himself;  to  preserve  and  co-ordinate  that 
in  every  faith  which  bears  the  eternal  imprint,  and  gently 
to  dissolve  that  in  every  faith  which  has  done  its  work 
and  has  survived  its  time. 

He  came  as  the  Self-revealing  God,  who  would  be 
known  in  the  qualities  of  His  eternal  loveliness,  that  men 
might  no  longer  muse  darkly  concerning  Him  as  the 
impersonal  Absolute,  nor  cower  in  dread  before  Him  as  a 
god  of  hatred  and  cruelty;  but  love  Him  as  the  Source  of 

1  Rev.  1 : 8, 17,  18 ;  John  11 :  25,  26. 


The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     159 

love,  and  pour  forth  their  hearts  to  Him  as  children  to  a 
Father,  and  weep  forth  their  sorrows  on  His  breast  and 
commit  the  keeping  of  their  souls  to  Him,  as  unto  a 
faithful  Creator.  Therefore  He  went  about  doing  good, 
bearing  men's  griefs  and  carrying  men's  sorrows;  consid- 
erate of  all  weakness,  responsive  to  all  appeals,  redemp- 
tive in  His  ministrations,  constructive  in  His  teachings; 
interpreting  all  that  He  said  and  did  by  the  one  great 
word:    "He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father!"1 

He  came  as  the  Sin-condemning  Judge.  The  vesture 
of  His  spirit  was  stainless  holiness;  the  garments  of  His 
soul  were  glistening,  exceeding  white,  "so  as  no  fuller  on 
earth  can  white  them."  He  was  holy,  guileless,  undefiled, 
and  separate  from  sinners.  He  came  into  His  incarnate 
estate  to  redeem  sinners,  and  began  His  work  by  the 
condemnation  of  their  sin.  That  which  sin  is,  the  self- 
assertion  of  the  finite  ego  as  against  the  holy  will  of  God, 
must,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  intolerable  to  God, 
alike  from  the  standpoint  of  justice  and  from  the  stand- 
point of  love;  intolerable  to  justice  because  abnormal; 
intolerable  to  love  because  unfilial.  Therefore  His  con- 
demnations of  sin  were  explicit  and  momentous.  He 
condemned  sin  by  His  words.  In  their  power  of  ethical 
analysis  they  were  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword, 
piercing  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  dis- 
cerning the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  They 
sank  through  the  cloak  of  hypocrisy  and  struck  at  the 
heart  of  untruth.  They  probed  to  the  depths  of  unright- 
eousness and  laid  bare  the  iniquities  of  intention  and 
desire.  He  condemned  sin  by  His  example — not  the 
mere  negative  example  of  abstention  from  wrong-doing, 
but,  infinitely  more,  the  positive  example  of  filial  obe- 

1  John  14: 9. 


160  Barrows  Lectures 

dience.  Obedience  was  His  meat,  the  bread  of  service. 
The  joy  with  which  in  His  mystical  Sonship  He  surren- 
dered all  egoistic  volition  was,  by  the  law  of  contrast, 
an  arraignment  of  man's  unchastened  self-seeking;  an 
arraignment  never  so  awful  as  when,  in  the  Sweat  of 
Blood,  He  prayed:  "Not  My  will,  but  Thine  be  done."1 
He  condemned  sin  by  His  Death.  Led  as  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter;  giving  His  back  to  the  smiters  and  His  cheek 
to  them  that  plucked  out  the  hair;  crowned  with  the  dia- 
dem of  ignominy  and  exposed  upon  the  Cross  of  shame; 
despised  and  rejected  of  men;  the  last  sufferings  of  Him 
whose  spirit  was  holiness  and  whose  life  was  love,  dis- 
closed, arraigned,  convicted,  and  condemned  that  mad- 
ness of  self-will  in  man  which  stops  not  at  the  denial  of 
its  best  Friend,  the  crucifixion  of  its  Redeemer. 

He  came  as  the  suffering  Saviour.  He  saved  others, 
Himself  He  could  not  save.2  He  could  not  because  He 
would  not.  All  power  in  Heaven  and  on  earth  were  His, 
yet  Love  made  itself  of  no  reputation,  and  became  obe- 
dient unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  Cross.  There 
was  no  other  way,  save  death,  great  enough  to  express 
that  love.  In  death  He  condemned  sin  that  He  might 
redeem  the  sinful.  The  Sacrifice  was  preventable;  but 
He  would  not  prevent  it.  Himself  deathless,  as  the 
Image  of  the  Father,  in  His  own  flesh  underwent  death, 
as  the  corporate  Representative  of  the  whole  human  race, 
that  through  death  He  might  present  himself  to  the 
Father  for  us.  For  us  He  died,  for  us  He  arose  from 
the  dead,  that  as,  by  His  Death,  we,  in  Christ,  receive 
the  condemnation  of  sin,  so,  in  His  Rising,  we  also 
should  rise  and  walk  with  Him  in  newness  of  life.* 

i  Luke  22 :  42.  2  Cf.  Matt.  27 :  42. 

3  Cf.  Athanasius,  C.  Ar.,  I,  41 ;  see  also  Mobebly,  Atonement  and  Person- 
ality, especially  the  supplementary  chapter  on  "The  Atonement  in  History." 


TJw  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ     161 

So  the  goffering  Saviour  passed  to  His  Cross.  .  Pain, 
anguish,  humiliation  girt  Him  in  on  every  side.  Dark- 
ness and  loneliness  opened  their  arms  to  receive  Him. 
Yet  joy  sustained  the  spirit  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  who, 
for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  endured  the  Cross, 
despising  the  shame;  joy,  that  from  the  rending  of  His 
Life  in  death  should  spring  a  fountain  of  cleansing  for 
all  the  generations  of  men;  joy,  that  through  the  consum- 
mation of  His  sufferings  a  self-expression  of  the  Love  of 
God  should  be  accomplished,  whereby  to  melt  the  stony 
heart  of  human  selfishness  and  to  set  its  affections  on 
things  above. 

When  I  survey  the  wondrous  Cross, 
On  which  the  Prince  of  Glory  died; 

My  richest  gain  I  count  but  loss, 
And  pour  contempt  on  all  my  pride. 

Were  the  whole  realm  of  nature  mine, 
That  were  a  present  far  too  small ; 

Love  so  amazing,  so  divine, 

Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all.1 
i  Isaac  Watts. 


FIFTH  LECTURE 

THE   IDEAS   OF  HOLINESS   AND  IMMORTALITY  INTER- 
PRETED BY  CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCE 

In  the  unfolding  of  my  theme  I  am  now  to  advance 
beyond  the  negative  aspects  of  the  moral  problem  of  the 
religion  of  Christ,  as  exhibited  in  the  phenomena  of  sin, 
and  to  consider  the  positive  connotations  of  the  idea  of 
Holiness. 

I  could  wish  that  it  had  been  possible  to  present  the 
subject  of  the  Holy  Life  in  immediate  connection  with  the 
analysis  of  sin,  and  as  a  part  of  the  same  lecture,  inasmuch 
as  the  nexus  of  thought  is  so  very  close.  But,  that  being 
impracticable,  by  reason  of  limitations  of  time,  I  must  ask 
you  to  recall  the  main  positions  of  my  last  lecture  and  to 
make  them  the  basis  of  what  now  is  to  be  said. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  the  nature  of  our  conception  of 
sin  is  determined,  antecedently,  by  the  interpretations 
which  we  give  to  the  ideas  of  God  and  of  finite  per- 
sonality. If  God  is  regarded  as  the  impersonal  Absolute, 
and  the  finite  self  as  illusory  and  transient,  the  philosophi- 
cal and  practical  conclusions  regarding  sin  will  shape 
themselves  accordingly.  If  God  is  self-realising,  moral 
Personality,  maintaining  toward  man  an  attitude  of  holy, 
Fatherly  love ;  and  if  the  finite  self  is  an  actual  and  per- 
manent differentiation  of  God's  Essence,  possessing  finite 
individuality,  ethical  self-realisation,  will,  and  responsi- 
bility, sin  becomes  the  formidable  menace  to  life  which, 
by  Christ  and  by  the  Christian  Scriptures,  it  is  held  to  be. 
Its  essence  is  not  a  necessity  existent  in  the  nature  of 
things ;  an  inevitable  shadow  cast  by  righteousness  ;  a 
beneficent  stepping-stone  in  the  progress  of  the  individual 

162 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  163 

from  the  ignorance  of  innocency  to  the  experiential  knowl- 
edge of  virtue.  Neither  is  sin  an  inherent  property  of 
the  physical  nature  as  distinct  from  the  spiritual  nature, 
for  God  cannot  be  regarded  as  the  author  of  that  which 
intrinsically  is  evil,  or  as  the  promoter  of  conflict  between 
body  and  spirit,  dividing  human  life  against  itself ;  and, 
furthermore,  there  are  sins  that  inhabit  exclusively  the 
regions  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  consciousness,  and  do 
not  involve  the  physical  realm.  The  Christian  view  of  sin 
locates  its  seat  in  the  will  and  defines  its  nature  as  the 
self-assertion  of  the  finite  ego  against  the  Divine  order  of 
life.  Not  that  this  capacity  for  self-assertion  is  in  itself 
evil,  but  unquestionably  good.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  greatest 
and  most  Godlike  element  in  man.  Taken  in  connection 
with  the  moral  reason  of  which  it  is  the  executive 
expression,  it  is  that  endowment  in  and  through  which 
man  is  a  partaker  of  the  Divine  nature.  This  most  noble 
capability  produces  sin,  when,  obeying  suggestions  from 
without  or  from  within,  it  operates  in  antagonism  to  the 
Divine  order  of  life  ;  saying,  in  effect,  to  the  holy,  loving 
God:  "Not  Thy  will,  but  mine,  be  done." 

Such  a  misuse  of  the  Godlike  property  of  self-assertion 
involves  man  in  abnormal  relations  to  God,  to  himself,  and 
to  society.  Every  volition  and  act  of  sin  must  be  regarded, 
in  its  relation  to  God,  as  selfishness  tinged  with  the 
ingratitude  and  unseemliness  that  belong  to  self-assertion 
against  wise  and  considerate  love ;  and  as  a  denial 
of  sovereignty  whereby  He  who  has  every  right  to  deter- 
mine the  lines  of  our  action  is  set  aside.  Not  less 
abnormal  is  the  relation  in  which  the  sinner  places  him- 
self toward  his  own  life  by  every  erroneous  self-assertion, 
and  by  the  constitutional  attitude  of  selfishness  produced 
by  repetitions  of  sin.     He  is  dealing  deadly  blows  at  his 


164  Barrows  Lectures 

own  life,  maltreating  the  delicate  organism  of  personality, 
wronging  his  own  soul.  He  is,  by  each  erroneous  self- 
assertion,  shutting  out  good  that  would  have  come  to  him 
on  normal  lines  and  now  is  stopped  by  his  abnormality. 
His  sin  is  his  self -impoverishment ;  it  is  the  son  trampling 
on  his  own  birthright,  the  heir  disinheriting  himself.  It 
is  in  his  relation  to  society  that  the  abnormality  of  the 
doer  of  sin  culminates.  For,  inasmuch  as  no  man  liveth 
to  himself,  the  consequences  of  each  self-assertion  against 
the  Divine  order  project  themselves  into  the  common  life 
of  man  as  the  seeds  of  a  spreading  plague,  the  bitter  over- 
flow of  a  cup  of  sorrow,  an  ever-deepening  shadow  upon 
the  problem  of  existence.  With  that  problem  the  prophets 
of  the  greater  religions  have  grappled  for  many  thousands 
of  years,  and  the  lofty  sadness  of  their  utterances  has 
given  melancholy  consolation  to  millions  of  lives,  by 
expressing  the  feeling  that  finite  existence  is  labour  and 
sorrow,  a  profitless  treadmill,  a  wheel  of  tormenting  illu- 
sions, to  escape  from  which  and  from  the  vain  desire  to 
live  is  the  chief  end  of  man;  to  melt  like  the  dewdrop 
in  the  silent  sea.1 

But,  as  the  twentieth  century  opens,  there  are  signs 
in  various  parts  of  the  world,  and  within  the  domains  of 
some  of  the  great  religions,  that  a  new  day  of  thought  is 
dawning  for  many  religious,  sympathetic,  and  able  minds. 
What  that  new  day  may  bring  forth  it  is  too  soon  to 
predict;  but  that  its  dawn  is  at  hand  will  be  acknowl- 
edged in  certain  influential  circles  as  far  apart  from 
one  another  in  some  things  as  Hinduism,  Buddhism, 
Judaism,  and  Christianity.  The  essence  of  this  thought- 
movement,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  although  organised 
but  in  part,  is  a  more  hopeful  view  of  life  in  this  world; 

*  Cf.  E  Caied,  Evolution  of  Religion,  Vol.  I,  pp  356-3. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  165 

a  conviction  that  it  is  worth  living  and  has  value  for 
the  individual,  if  it  can  be  redeemed  from  the  disabili- 
ties that  beset  it.  In  a  word,  the  redemption  of  the  life 
that  now  is  begins  to  be  regarded  with  hope  by  a 
growing  number  of  serious  minds.  I  have  ventured  the 
opinion  that  this  feeling  is  due  in  part  to  the  possibilities 
for  the  betterment  and  enrichment  of  our  present  existence 
that  have  been  brought  to  light  by  recent  discoveries  and 
inventions.  Physical  science  rapidly  is  making  this 
world  a  more  desirable  place  of  residence.  The  feeling 
in  question  is  due  also,  in  part,  to  the  increasing  sense  of 
the  value  of  human  life,  produced  by  the  science  of  soci- 
ology. The  human  problem  is  being  probed  to  its  depths 
with  illuminating  results,  which  are  being  made  accessible 
through  the  growth,  in  all  lands,  of  a  cosmopolitan  spirit. 
Joined  with  this  is  a  marked  increase  of  humanitarian 
sympathy,  showing  itself  in  an  appreciation  of  the  dis- 
crepancy between  what  life  might  be,  and  what,  in  fact, 
it  is,  for  the  masses  of  mankind.  As  science  shows  us 
how  much  of  the  physical  evil  of  life  could  be  prevented 
or  removed  by  better  moral  conditions,  the  conviction 
strengthens  that  moral  evil  is  the  actual  cause  of  the 
world's  sorrow;  that  sin  is  the  real  incubus  upon 
humanity.  In  this  opinion  there  is  an  involuntary  con- 
sensus among  men  of  the  most  diverse  theological  views ; 
and,  as  these  thinkers  of  the  new  social  thoughts  meet,  in 
Japan  or  in  India  or  in  America,  they  find  in  one  another 
a  common  longing  to  make  people  better  and  thereby  to 
break  the  moral  bondage  of  the  world.  Nothing  is  more 
certain  than  the  existence  of  this  common  longing,  felt 
by  an  enlarging  circle  of  men  in  all  the  great  religions  of 
the  world,  to  release  humanity  from  the  bonds  of  moral 
evil  that  are  holding  the  world  back  from  rich  possibili- 


166  Barrows  Lectures 

ties  of  good  in  the  present  life,  to  say  nothing  of  the  life 
to  come. 

I  have  pointed  out  also  that  not  less  general  than  this 
solicitude  for  the  elevation  of  mankind  is  the  conviction 
that  power  is  needed  to  bring  about  that  end — a  dynamic 
capable  of  dealing  with  the  situation;  able  to  cope  with 
the  benumbing  influence  of  sin,  and  to  impregnate  with 
moral  feeling  hearts  afllicted  with  this  plague;  able  to 
arrest  the  forces  of  selfishness  that  everywhere,  in  high 
places  and  low,  are  postponing  the  redemption  and  aug- 
menting the  sorrow  of  this  present  world.  The  practical 
question  that  confronts  us  all  is:  Whence  shall  this 
power  come?  Who  has  it  to  give?  I  have  undertaken 
to  answer  that  question ;  and  my  answer  is  being  made  in 
no  spirit  of  partisanship.  I  have  little  zeal  for  making 
proselytes;  small  interest  in  seeing  one  religious  sect 
triumph  over  others;  much  less  in  discrediting  or  dis- 
honouring the  faith  of  another.  I  share  with  you,  my 
brothers,  and  with  all  earnest,  open-minded  men  through- 
out the  world,  a  love  of  humanity,  a  sorrow  over  its  limi- 
tations, a  longing  for  the  reversal  of  those  conditions  of 
perverted  self-will  whereby  men  are  revolting  from  the 
Divine  sovereignty,  wronging  their  own  lives,  and 
spreading  the  plague  of  evil  throughout  an  already  con- 
taminated society.  With  you  I  pray  that  prayer  which, 
in  our  several  faiths,  is  one:  "Thy  Kingdom  come,  O 
God;  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven." 
And  I  feel  resting  upon  myself  the  same  duty  that  I  con- 
ceive to  rest  on  each  member  of  this  unorganised 
brotherhood  of  hope  throughout  the  world,  to  utter  his 
belief  as  to  any  source  whence  may  come  the  power 
which,  we  all  agree,  is  needed,  to  cope  with  the  present 
difficulties  of  the  world  and  to  confer  upon  it  the  inesti- 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  167 

mable  gifts  of  moral  deliverance  and  normal  relationship 
to  God.  By  permitting  me  to  speak  in  your  presence 
you  have  given  me  the  opportunity  to  discharge  this  duty. 

Frankly  I  have  declared  that  I  see  no  hope  of 
obtaining  for  the  world  the  power  required  to  break  the 
bondage  of  moral  evil,  from  any  other  source  than  from 
Jesus  Christ  and  His  Holy  Sacrifice  for  man.  While 
saying  this  I  have  expressed  my  deep  respect  for  other 
and  older  forms  of  faith,  and  my  gratitude  for  their  past 
and  present  good.  But  I  am  forced,  not  by  any  sectarian 
prejudice,  but  by  reason  and  by  experience,  to  the  con- 
viction that,  while  other  faiths  have  other  functions  for 
the  many-sided  life  of  man,  the  function  of  saving  sinners 
from  their  sins,  and  bringing  them  back  into  that  normal 
relation  with  God  which  is  personal  holiness,  is  the  pre- 
rogative of  Jesus  Christ  alone.  He,  and  He  alone,  has 
the  power  of  which  the  world,  as  we  all  agree,  stands  in 
need.  The  great  spiritual  leaders  of  the  ages  share  with 
Christ  the  distinctions  of  beauty  of  life,  teaching  power, 
the  veneration  of  followers,  and,  in  some  instances,  heroic 
obedience  to  death ;  but  Christ  alone  remains,  as  the  cen- 
turies come  and  go,  a  life-giving  Spirit,  present  every- 
where in  His  world,  and  working  day  by  day  the  one 
transcendent  miracle,  attested  by  the  experience  of  millions 
of  living  persons,  of  all  nations,  languages,  religions, 
social  conditions,  and  degrees  of  age — the  miracle  of 
deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin;  renewal  of  the  per- 
verted will  in  harmony  with  the  Divine  order  of  life; 
reconstruction  of  motive  and  transformation  of  character. 

That  Christ  has  this  power  and  has  it  today  is  estab- 
lished by  such  a  volume  of  independent,  living  testimony 
as  would  corroborate  any  other  statement,  scientific  or 
historical,  in  any  court  of  public  opinion.     The  fact  that 


168  Barrows  Lectures 

multitudes  are  to  be  found  who  claim  the  name  of  Chris- 
tian, yet  give  no  evidence  of  the  spiritual  power  of  Christ, 
is  admitted  freely  and  sorrowfully.  The  facts  that  many 
religious  differences  exist  among  sects  of  Western  Chris- 
tians, and  that  governments  officially  professing  the 
Christian  religion  countenance  policies  inconsistent  with 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  are  beyond  dispute.  In  view  of  these 
facts,  I  must  refer  to  what  repeatedly  has  been  said  in 
these  lectures,  that  I  am  by  no  means  presenting  Western 
religious  and  political  institutions  as  ideals  of  practical 
Christianity  for  the  imitation  of  the  East.  I  would  not, 
if  I  could,  impose  organised  Western  Christianity  upon 
the  Orient ;  not  only  because  it  is  loaded  with  local  adap- 
tations peculiar  to  the  West  and  not  germane  to  the  East, 
but  because  it  is,  in  various  respects,  unworthy  to  be  cited 
as  an  adequate  presentment  of  the  ideal  growth  of  a 
Christian  society;  much  dross  being  mingled  with  its 
gold. 

But  these  unhappy  degenerations  from  ideal  Christian 
conditions,  by  the  law  of  contrast,  throw  into  sharper 
relief  the  actual  work  of  that  ever-present,  life-giving 
Spirit,  the  Living  Christ.  It  goes  on  in  millions  of  lives 
today,  whose  experiences  of  His  power  to  do  what  no  other 
being  does  or  has  done,  could  they  be  collected,  would 
present  an  overpowering  accumulation  of  testimony, 
created  without  collusion  or  forethought  by  persons  un- 
known to  one  another  and  remote  from  one  another,  physi- 
cally and  intellectually.  There  are  children  into  whose 
careless  and  inconsequent  lives  entered  a  power  that  has 
ordered  wayward  instinct,  redirected  stubborn  will,  suffused 
the  soul  with  emotions  of  gentleness  and  desires  of  purity. 
They  tell  us  that  it  is  Christ's  work  in  them.  There  are 
scholars  and  seers,  familiar  with  the  higher  paths  of  wis- 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  169 

dom,  who  abandoned  religious  faith  and,  contemptuous  of 
doctrine,  chose  secularism  for  their  portion.  But  a  light 
brighter  than  the  sun  shined  in  their  hearts,  perception 
of  Divine  reality  returned,  prayer  sprang  unbidden,  and 
childlike  longing  to  live  unto  God.  They  tell  us  that  it  is 
Christ  who  has  made  all  things  new.  There  are  men  who 
were  the  slaves  of  sin;  base  instincts  of  the  flesh  con- 
trolled them ;  ferocious  and  malignant  lusts  made  them 
plague  spots  in  the  social  organism.  Yet  upon  them  has 
an  unseen  hand  been  laid,  exorcising  the  devils  within; 
transmuting  thought,  intention,  desire;  clothing  them 
with  a  new  life ;  making  them  promoters  of  the  good  that 
once  they  hated  and  assailed.  They  tell  us  that  it  is 
Christ  who  has  made  them  new  creatures  in  Himself. 
The  significance  of  these  testimonies  lies  in  their  number, 
their  persistent  recurrence  day  by  day,  their  spontaneity, 
and  their  range  of  experience.  Reason  refuses  to  ignore 
them.  They  point  to  a  power  working  along  the  lines  of 
the  world's  greatest  need,  effecting  precisely  those  results 
in  individuals  which,  by  the  common  consent  of  all 
earnest  men,  are  to  be  desired  for  society  at  large; 
namely,  the  breaking  of  the  spell  of  moral  evil,  the  reha- 
bilitation of  character,  the  restoration  of  the  alienated 
will  to  harmony  with  the  Divine  order  of  life. 

This  power  appears  to  be  centred  in  Christ.  The 
exercise  of  it  seems  to  be  His  exclusive  prerogative. 
Looking  without  prejudice  to  other  possible  sources  of 
similar  power,  we  do  not  find  it.  It  connects  itself  with 
Him ;  apart  from  Him  it  fails  to  emerge.  One  is  there- 
fore forced  by  reason  to  ask :  Who  then  is  He  ?  He  Him- 
self makes  answer  in  words  the  credibility  of  which,  great 
at  the  beginning,  increases  as  the  passing  years  exhibit 
the  undiminished  fullness  of  His  redemptive  and  recon- 


170  Barrows  Lectures 

structive  power:  "I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega; 
Which  is  and  Which  was  and  Which  is  to  come;  the 
Almighty."1  "I  am  the  Living  One."2  "I  am  the 
Light  of  the  World;  he  that  followeth  Me  shall  not 
walk  in  darkness  but  shall  have  the  Light  of  Life."3 
Into  the  historic  life  of  the  world  He  came,  as  we  have 
seen,  not  to  destroy,  but  to  upbuild.  He  came  as  the  self- 
revealing  God,  emerging  from  the  depths  of  Divine  Per- 
sonality to  incarnate  in  terms  of  manhood  the  eternal 
nature  of  love.  He  came  as  the  sin-condemning  Judge, 
clad  in  the  splendours  of  righteousness;  proclaiming  by 
word,  by  example,  by  the  tragic  mystery  of  the  Cross,  that 
the  selfishness  of  human  sin  is  the  undoing  of  man  and 
the  anguish  of  God.  He  came  as  the  suffering  Saviour, 
Himself  deathless,  as  the  Image  of  the  Father,  in  His  own 
flesh  to  undergo  death,  as  the  corporate  Representative  of 
the  whole  human  race. 

But  death,  while  it  was  "in  one  sense  the  culmination 
of  His  voluntary  Sacrifice,"4  was  not  the  final  expression 
of  the  power  wherewith  He  has  taken  hold  of  the  problem 
of  human  existence,  to  overcome  evil  with  good,  to  bring 
men  to  God,  saving  them  from  their  sins.  He  has  power 
to  lay  down  His  life  and  power  to  take  it  again.  In  the 
words  of  one  of  the  most  ancient  Christian  hymns: 
"When  Thou  hadst  overcome  the  sharpness  of  death, 
Thou  didst  open  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  believers." 
The  consummation  of  the  Incarnation  is  the  Resurrection 
and  the  power  of  the  Risen  Life.  Having  descended  in- 
to the  depths  of  shame  and  destruction  that  He,  the  cor- 
porate Representative  of  humanity,  tasting  death  for 
every  man,  might  endure  and  exhibit  the  bitterness  of  sin, 

iRev.  1:9.  2Rev.  1:18.  3  John  8: 12. 

*  Fabeae,  The  Atonement  in  Modern  Religious  Thought,  p.  48. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  171 

He  returns,  holding  the  keys  of  death,  as  the  life-giving 
Christ,  in  joyful  resurrection,  that  man,  through  Him, 
forevermore  may  have  life  and  may  have  it  more  abun- 
dantly. Vitality,  victory,  hope,  gladness,  are  the  notes  of 
His  power  over  man.  The  historic  evidence  of  His  Res- 
urrection, however  precious,  is  but  a  prelude  for  that 
unbounded  evidence  of  His  existence  afforded  by  the  con- 
tinuous and  ever-enlarging  experience  of  human  lives. 
"Whatever  may  have  happened  at  the  grave,"  says  one  of 
the  greatest  and  most  cautious  historical  scholars  of  the 
world,  "one  thing  is  certain:  this  grave  is  the  birthplace 
of  the  indestructible  belief  that  death  is  vanquished; 
that  there  is  life  eternal.  Wherever  there  is  a  strong  faith 
in  the  infinite  value  of  the  soul,  wherever  the  sufferings  of 
the  present  are  measured  against  a  future  of  glory,  this  feel- 
ing of  life  is  bound  up  with  the  conviction  that  Jesus 
Christ  has  passed  through  death,  that  God  has  awakened 
and  raised  Him  to  life  and  glory.  It  is  not  by  any  specu- 
lative ideas  of  philosophy,  but  by  the  vision  of  Jesus'  Life 
and  Death,  and  by  the  feeling  of  His  imperishable  union 
with  God,  that  mankind,  so  far  as  it  believes  in  these 
things,  has  attained  to  that  certainty  of  eternal  life  it  was 
meant  to  know  and  which  it  dimly  discerns;  eternal  life 
in  time  and  beyond  time."1 

From  this  point  of  view,  the  ethical  relation  of  Christ 
to  the  present  problem  of  moral  evil  appears.  He  who 
came  as  the  self-revealing  God,  as  the  sin-condemning 
Judge,  as  the  suffering  Saviour,  abides  everywhere  in  the 
world  as  the  life-giving  Spirit  of  power,  to  be  the  Type 
and  Standard  of  humanity.  The  solution  of  the  problem 
of  moral  evil  advances  as  the  lives  of  men  are  brought 
into  conformity  with  His  Life.     All  that  is  wrong  gives 

i  Haenack,  What. Is  Christianity?    English  translation,  p.  162. 


172  Barrows  Lectures 

place  to  right;  all  abnormality  is  corrected;  all  chains  of 
oppression  are  loosed ;  all  seeds  of  iniquity  are  sterilised ; 
all  barriers  detaining  men  from  good  are  dissolved,  as 
human  lives  reflect  the  image  of  Christ,  the  Type  and 
Standard  of  humanity. 

Thus  are  we  brought  to  that  concept,  Holiness,  which 
for  many  thousands  of  years,  in  all  the  greater  religions, 
has  commanded  the  thought  of  the  most  illustrious  minds. 
To  say  that  holiness  is  the  ideal  of  Christianity  is  to  say 
nothing  distinctive;  other  faiths  exhibit  the  same  ideal 
and  produce  examples  of  piety.  It  is  only  by  ascertain- 
ing the  connotations  of  the  term,  in  each  instance,  that  we 
discern  its  specific  relation  to  life  and  its  contribution  to 
a  solution  of  the  great  and  terrible  problem  of  moral 
evil;  a  sense  of  the  oppressiveness  of  which  is  spreading 
throughout  the  most  thoughtful  religious  circles  of  the 
world. 

It  is  difficult  for  us,  who  live  under  the  influence  of 
modern  thought-relations,  to  realise  that,  in  the  primitive 
stages  of  religion,  even  such  a  fundamental  word  as  "holi- 
ness" could  lack  ethical  or  spiritual  meaning.  Well  has 
it  been  said:  "With  the  primitive  habit  of  thought  we 
have  lost  touch ;  and  we  cannot  hope  to  understand  it  by 
the  aid  of  logical  discussion,  but  only  by  studying  it  on 
its  ground  as  it  is  exhibited  in  the  working  of  early  reli- 
gion."1 "While  it  is  not  easy  to  fix  the  exact  idea  of 
holiness  in  ancient  Semitic  religion,  it  is  quite  certain 
that  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  morality  and  purity  of  life. 
Holy  persons  were  such,  not  in  virtue  of  their  character, 
but  in  virtue  of  their  race,  function,  or  mere  material  con- 
secration."2    "Holiness  under  such  relations  is  no  more 

i  W.  Hobeetson  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  90. 
2 Ibid.,  p.  132. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  173 

than  an  epithet  of  convenience  to  distinguish  places 
objects,  or  persons  reserved  for  use  in  connection  with 
religious  rites,  from  other  places,  objects,  or  persons 
employed  for  ordinary  purposes."1  Much  nearer  to  many 
of  us  comes  the  ceremonial  and  external  connotation  of 
holiness  as  connected  with  scrupulous  observance  of  the 
rules  of  caste,  and  of  the  functions  of  worship.  As  sin 
may  stand  in  the  thought-relation  of  ceremonial  unclean- 
ness,  breach  of  rule,  contact  with  external  defilement;  so 
holiness,  the  converse  of  sin,  may  signify  precision  of 
religious  conduct,  unbroken  liturgical  regularity,  success- 
ful self-protection  from  prohibited  contacts.  As  such, 
undoubtedly,  it  has  both  advantages  and  disadvantages, 
from  an  ethical  point  of  view.  Its  strength  is  in  its 
consistent  and  scrupulous  discharge  of  that  which  is 
regarded  as  obligatory;  and  often  the  fulfillment  of  cere- 
monial duty  and  the  solicitude  to  escape  ceremonial 
defilement  are  connected  with  an  earnestness  and  courage 
that  are  at  once  a  rebuke  and  an  example  to  others.  Its 
temptation  is  to  non-ethical  satisfaction  in  precision  of 
form,  with  neglect  of  esoteric  righteousness ;  making  clean 
and  fair  the  outside  of  life,  while  within  may  be  much 
uncleansed  thought,  abnormal  volition,  and  unresisted 
moral  evil.  Still  nearer  to  some  of  us  may  come  that 
conception  of  holiness  which  represents  a  philosophy  of 
negation,  and  reflects  the  effort,  by  self-abstraction  from 
an  illusory  world,  to  wither  up  the  springs  of  desire  which 
presuppose  reality,  to  uproot  the  will  to  live,  to  hasten 
release  from  the  wheel  of  existence.  The  beautiful  attend- 
ant of  that  unworldly  life  of  abstraction  and  contempla- 
tion sometimes  is  a  universal  sympathy  which,  making 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  others  of  more  importance  than  its 

i  Abkwith,  Christian  Conception  of  Holiness,  pp.  103  ff. 


174  Barrows  Lectures 

own,  fills  life  with  gentleness  and  compassion,  leaving  no 
room  for  hatred  or  uncharitableness,  for  anger  or  revenge.1 
In  each  of  the  types  just  considered  there  is  an  element 
easily  assimilated  in  the  Christian  conception  of  holiness: 
in  that  which  dedicates  certain  places,  times,  and  things  to 
the  special  uses  of  religion,  calling  them  holy;  in  that 
which  recognises  the  importance  of  outward  acts  of  wor- 
ship and  the  value  even  of  physical  separation  from  defile- 
ment; and  in  that  which,  seeking  to  live  above  and  apart 
from  the  vain  and  transitory  elements  of  the  world,  inter- 
ests itself  in  gentle  and  consoling  ministration  unto  others. 
But  the  essence  of  the  Christian  conception  of  holiness, 
like  the  essence  of  the  Christian  conception  of  sin,  is  not 
external  and  ceremonial,  but  inward,  ethical,  spiritual. 
The  seat  of  moral  evil  is  the  will;  sin  is  the  erroneous 
self-assertion  of  the  ego  against  the  Divine  order  of  life: 
even  so  the  seat  of  holiness  is  the  will;  the  essence  of 
holiness  is  normal  relation  to  God.  If  one  will  take  this 
thought  and,  entirely  without  prejudice,  partisanship,  or 
theological  dogmatism,  examine  its  foundations  and  the 
conclusions  to  which  it  points,  I  believe  that  every  mem- 
ber of  the  great,  unorganised  brotherhood  of  love  and 
earnestness,  which  includes  all  of  every  faith  who  desire 
the  well-being  of  humanity,  will  see  the  beauty  of  holiness 
as  Christ  interprets  and  gives  holiness,  and  will  acknowl- 
edge it  to  be  the  primary  need  of  the  world.  For,  as  I 
apprehend  the  scope  and  nature  of  the  Christian  idea  of 
holiness,  my  reason  compels  me  to  admit  its  beauty,  and 
would  compel  that  admission,  if  I  were  not  a  Christian. 
It  is,  intrinsically,  a  rational  idea,  devoid  of  that  which  is 
arbitrary,  mechanical,  unreal.  It  is  noble  in  its  elevation ; 
rising  up  to  the  very  heights  of  God,  and  inviting  man  to 

i  Cf.  Dhammapada,  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  Vol.  X;  also  E.  Caied,  op.  cit., 
Vol.  I,  pp.  356  ff. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  175 

ascend  those  heights  without  presumption  and  to  realise 
his  kinship  with  the  Infinite  Self.  It  is  full  of  hope,  and 
outlook,  and  the  possibility  of  happiness.  It  is  philo- 
sophically valid,  founded  on  presuppositions  of  the  unity 
of  being.  It  is  an  idea  of  power,  connecting  itself  with 
the  most  abstruse  problem  of  human  existence  and  under- 
taking to  contribute  to  its  solution.  It  has  the  note  of 
universality,  teaching  nothing  that  is  divisive  or  sectarian, 
but  only  that  which  is  of  world-wide  significance  and 
world-wide  advantage. 

In  this  spirit  of  liberal  appreciation  may  we  approach 
the  Christian  conception  of  the  Holy  Life,  seeking  first  to 
apprehend  the  foundation  upon  which  it  rests.  Undoubt- 
edly the  deepest  and  broadest  element  in  that  foundation 
is  the  absolute  beauty  of  the  character  of  God.  God  is 
Light  and  God  is  Love.  We  have  seen  in  an  earlier 
lecture  that  Christian  belief  in  the  personality  of  God  is  an 
intellectual  necessity.  Beginning  where  Hinduism  begins, 
in  an  approach  to  the  Infinite  by  the  path  of  negation, 
denying  one  limitation  after  another — God  is  not  this,  and 
not  this — Christianity  arrives  where  Hinduism  arrives,  at 
the  undifferentiated,  unqualified  Absolute.  But  there  its 
sense  of  the  greatness  of  God  forbids  it  to  stop  ;  for  the 
simplicity  of  the  unqualified  Absolute,  of  an  impersonal 
God  without  attributes,  appears  to  it  less  compatible  with 
infinity  than  self-realisation  in  the  terms  of  infinite  per- 
sonality. That  self-realisation,  to  be  Divine,  must  be 
ethically  consistent ;  a  perfect  Life  of  Truth,  unlimited 
by  any  shade  of  errour,  undimmed  by  any  thought  of  sel- 
fishness. The  goodness  of  God  is  the  corner-stone  of  this 
philosophy.  Whatever  man  may  be,  whatever  mysteries 
life  may  present,  God  is  good ;  in  Him  is  no  darkness  at 
all ;    with   Him   is  no  variableness ;    from  Him    cometh 


176  Barrows  Lectures 

every  good  and  perfect  gift ;  even  the  power  of  God  is 
conditioned  upon  righteousness  ;  He  cannot  deny  Himself. 

Reaching  this  conclusion  by  the  path  of  philosophy, 
the  Christian  finds  its  verification  in  history  and  in 
experience  through  Jesus  Christ,  the  self-revealing  God. 
In  the  Person  of  Christ  all  moral  beauties  and  glories 
meet.  To  Him  we  apply  those  ancient  words  of  eulogy: 
"Chiefest  among  ten  thousand  and  altogether  lovely." 
The  resources  of  language  exhaust  themselves  in  the 
attempt  to  do  justice  to  the  ethical  personality  of  the 
historic  Christ.  Symmetry,  balance,  harmony,  splendour 
of  expression,  mark  the  outgoings  of  His  nature.  Every 
quality,  action,  word  reveals  a  Being  consistent  with 
Himself  and  with  ideal  excellence.  As  an  historic  Person^ 
Christ  attracted  contemporary  attention  by  various  notes 
of  distinction  ;  by  the  power  of  His  words  that  drew,  even 
from  hostile  lips,  the  admission,  "Never  man  spake  like 
this  man;"1  by  His  control  of  the  elements  of  nature, 
causing  men  to  cry  out,  "What  manner  of  man  is  this, 
that  even  the  winds  and  the  sea  obey  Him?"2  by  the  dark- 
ness and  the  earthquake  at  His  Cross,  that  forced  from  a 
Roman  soldier,  inured  to  scenes  of  horror,  the  words : 
"Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God."3 

But  as,  in  the  perspective  of  history,  we  behold  the 
separate  words  and  actions  of  Christ  drawn  together  and 
co-ordinated  in  the  form  of  concrete  Personality,  it  is  not 
the  sanity  and  sweetness  of  His  sayings  nor  the  efficiency 
of  His  deeds  that  seem  most  wonderful.  It  is  the  holy 
perfectness  of  His  Selfhood ;  not  that  He  speaks  the  truth, 
but  that  He  is  the  Truth ;  not  that  He  goes  about  doing 
good,  but  that  He  is  Incarnate  Holiness.  His  holiness  is 
not  ceremonial  propriety;  for  more  than  once  He  breaks 

i  John  7: 46.  2  Matt.  8:27.  3  Matt.  27:54. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  177 

with  ceremonial  propriety,  rising  above  it  into  transcendent 
perfection.  His  holiness  is  self-identification  with  His 
own  teachings,  that  "the  sum  of  goodness  is  to  be  in 
right  relations  towards  the  Father  in  heaven  ;  to  act  as 
He  acts  in  the  world ;  to  follow  His  guidance  in  the 
heart ;  to  merge  self  in  the  sense  of  a  Divine  Presence ; 
to  do  not  our  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  us ;  to 
love  God  with  heart  and  soul  and  strength  ;  to  love  men 
as  also  children  of  God  and  so  brethren,  as  partakers  of 
the  same  inspiration  and  sent  to  the  world  for  the  same 
purpose."1  As  time  passes  away,  bearing  into  distance 
and  obscurity  the  small  and  great  of  the  earth,  this  Holy 
Christ  passes  not  away.  Others  who  have  caught  His 
spirit  and  imitated  His  example  recede,  and  the  imme- 
diateness  of  their  contact  with  us  gives  place  to  the 
ethereal  survivals  of  memory.  But  He  continues,  in  the 
forefront  of  contemporary  experience,  a  present  Power,  a 
life-making  Spirit,  an  abiding  Holiness,  a  perpetual  Dis- 
closure of  the  moral  Essence  of  God.  "He  that  hath 
seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father."2  I  say  then  that  the 
first  and  deepest  foundation  of  Christian  holiness  is  not 
some  remote  commandment  of  the  past,  but  the  absolute 
moral  beauty  of  the  character  of  God,  perpetually  revealing 
itself  in  the  present  power  of  the  Living  Christ.  With  a 
great  departed  Master  of  Balliol  I  affirm:  "Holiness  has 
its  sources  elsewhere  than  in  history." 

In  correlation  with  this  element  of  the  Christian  con- 
ception of  the  Holy  Life  stands  the  moral  reason  of  man, 
with  its  power  to  estimate  ethical  values  and  to  make 
rational  appeals  to  conscience  and  will.  It  is  characteristic 
of  Christianity  to  exalt  the  dignity  of  man.     If  it  should 

1  Peecy  Gaednee,  Exploratio  Evangelica,  p.  194. 

2  John  14: 9. 


178  Bar  voids  Lectures 

seem  to  any  of  my  learned  hearers  that  to  attribute  per- 
sonal reality  to  the  finite  individual  is  less  honourable  to 
man  than  to  regard  finite  individuality  as  illusion  and 
man  as  a  transitional  name  for  the  Absolute,  it  must  be 
shown,  on  the  other  side,  that  the  kind  of  personal  reality 
attributed  by  the  Christian  religion  to  man  does  not  dis- 
connect him  from  God  and  is  not  inconsistent  with  a 
modified  form  of  monistic  philosophy.  For  man  is  of 
common  essence  with  God,  according  to  Christian  belief ; 
in  God  he  lives  and  moves  and  has  his  being.  A  very 
ancient  Scripture  says  of  the  sons  of  men  :  "God  hath  set 
eternity  in  their  heart;"1  and  another:  "Man  is  the 
image  and  glory  of  God."2  The  evidence  of  this  commu- 
nity of  essence  is  the  moral  reason  in  man ;  the  dis- 
criminating knowledge  of  good  and  evil ;  the  ability  to 
apprehend,  approve,  and  assimilate  holy  thought  and  holy 
action;  "to  judge,"  as  one  felicitously  has  said,  "of  the 
worth  and  dignity  of  being."3  By  this  gift  of  the  moral 
reason  man  alone,  it  is  believed,  of  all  the  orders  of  being 
upon  the  earth,  enjoys  a  certain  correspondence  with  God 
that  makes  possible  the  influencing  of  his  life  by  the 
Divine  Life,  in  ways  for  which  no  basis  exists  in  the  case 
of  animals.  In  Holy  Scripture  this  differentiation  of  man 
from  animals,  through  the  gift  of  the  moral  reason,  is 
made  the  occasion  of  touching  appeals  for  his  recognition  of 
this  higher  life  within  himself.  "I  will  instruct  thee  and 
teach  thee  in  the  way  which  thou  shalt  go ;  I  will  guide 
thee  with  Mine  eye  upon  thee.  Be  ye  not  as  the  horse 
or  as  the  mule,  which  have  no  understanding,  whose 
trappings  must  be  bit  and  bridle  to  hold  them  in,  else 
they  will  not  come  nigh  thee."4 

lEccl.  3:11,  R.  V.  margin. 

21  Cor.  11:7. 

3C/.  Askwith,  Christian  Conception  of  Holiness,  p.  36. 

*Ps.  32:8,9. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  179 

In  attributing  to  God  and  man  a  correspondence  of 
moral  essence  not  shared  by  animals,  Christianity  makes 
philosophical  implications  that  lead  away  from  one  of  the 
most  ancient,  most  widely  diffused,  and  most  influential 
conceptions  of  religion — the  transmigration  of  souls  and 
their  reincarnations  within  the  bodies  of  animals.  I  desire 
to  be  understood  as  speaking  with  reverence  of  some  of 
the  great  moral  ideas  comprehended  in  the  transmigratory 
belief;  such  as  continued  existence,  retributive  justice, 
and  the  persistence  of  the  results  of  our  actions.  I  am 
well  aware  also  of  the  respect  and  tenderness  toward  all 
forms  of  animal  life  inculcated  by  that  belief,  and  of  the 
repugnance  with  which  the  sensibilities  of  the  East  con- 
template the  wholesale  destruction  of  animal  life  by  Wes- 
tern nations  for  commercial  purposes  and  the  supply  of 
food.  With  that  repugnance  I  find  myself  in  sympathy 
for  other  reasons.  I  believe  that  the  almost  universal 
Western  practice  of  consuming  animal  food  has  clogged 
and  retarded  some  of  the  finer  possibilities  of  that  part  of 
the  human  race;  has  subtracted  from  the  spiritual  side 
possibly  as  much  as  it  may  have  added  on  the  physical 
side ;  has  created  an  undesirable  artificial  adaptation  and 
artificial  necessity  which  probably,  after  so  many  genera- 
tions of  participation,  cannot  be  altered,  but  is  none  the 
less  to  be  deplored.  I  believe  that  the  cultured  Eastern 
mind  excels  that  of  the  West  in  power  for  sustained  con- 
templation and  subtle  analysis  of  Divine  things,  and  it  is 
not  improbable  that  that  clarified  mentality  is  the  fair 
flower  of  unnumbered  generations  of  abstinence  from  the 
flesh  of  animals.  I  long  for  the  day,  when  the  vegetarian 
East  shall  bring  the  same  contemplative  power  to  bear 
upon  the  mysteries  of  Christian  Revelation  that  it  has 
consecrated  so  long  and  so  reverently  to  the  Upanishads 


180  Barrows  Lectures 

and  the  Gita.  While  the  Christian  view  of  finite  person- 
ality, involving  the  self-conscious  reality  and  endurance 
of  the  human  soul,  precludes  the  necessity  for  transmigra- 
tion, and  so  takes  away  from  animals  a  certain  potential 
significance,  which  otherwise  they  possess;  it  is  certain 
that  the  spirit  of  essential  and  non-local  Christianity 
toward  them  is  one  of  sacred  consideration;  that  not  a 
sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  unnoticed  by  the  Father;1  and 
that  the  instincts,  emotions,  and  rights  of  animals  are 
commanding  in  the  West  increasing  attention  and 
respect. 

But,  to  resume  my  argument:  From  the  Christian 
point  of  view,  holiness  in  man  is  founded  in  the  moral 
reason,  wherewith  he  judges  of  the  dignity  and  worth  of 
life ;  wherewith  he  knows  good  as  good,  and  the  Goodness 
of  God,  mediated  to  His  understanding  in  the  Person  of 
Christ,  as  the  ideal  Goodness;  the  Right  above  which 
there  is  no  more  perfect  right ;  the  Way  apart  from  which 
there  is  no  more  excellent  way.  From  the  conviction  of 
right,  apprehended  in  the  moral  reason,  issues  the  demand 
of  conscience  upon  the  will ;  the  man's  rational  apprecia- 
tion of  holiness  as  it  is  in  God  demanding  to  be  trans- 
lated into  action  by  the  will,  the  executive  power  of  self- 
conscious  personality. 

But  while,  in  a  perfect  human  life,  the  correspondence 
between  man  and  God  would  be  constant  and  inevitable, 
as  the  correspondence  between  the  burnished  image  in  a 
placid  lake  and  the  sun  in  a  cloudless  sky  (every  element 
of  God's  Holiness  being  mirrored  in  the  moral  reason  and 
reflected  by  the  will),  in  actual  experience,  sin,  the  per- 
version of  the  will  through  erroneous  suggestion,  opposes 
that  normal  end,  disobeying  the  heavenly  vision,  resisting 

1C/.  Matt.  6:26;  10:29. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  aud  Immortality  181 

the  demand  of  conscience,  darkening  the  understanding 
with  counsels  of  folly.  Thus  arises  the  moral  conflict  of 
our  inward  life,  the  battle  with  temptation,  the  spiritual 
travail  that  cannot  be  allayed  by  ceremonial  observances 
nor  quieted  by  outward  works  of  penitence.  It  is  the 
revolt  of  self  against  self;  of  the  will,  inflamed  by  abnor- 
mal suggestions,  against  the  moral  reason,  convinced  of 
the  excellence  of  Christ  and  the  beauty  of  holiness.  It  is 
a  struggle  realised  by  the  noblest  natures.  Saints  and 
apostles  have  known  it,  crying  out  against  the  bewilder- 
ment and  disorder  of  their  moral  forces:  "The  good  that 
I  would  I  do  not,  the  evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I  do. 
I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man ;  but  I 
see  another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the  law 
of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of 
sin  which  is  in  my  members.  O  wretched  man  that  I  am, 
Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death!"1 
The  instinct  of  the  soul  in  that  experience  is  to  cry  for 
deliverance,  to  invoke  a  power  not  itself;  for  within  itself 
abnormality  prevails.  The  moral  reason,  the  appointed 
seer  of  the  inward  life,  whose  function  is  to  behold  God, 
to  receive  His  imprint,  and  to  direct  the  will,  is  now  defied 
and  pinioned  by  the  will,  which,  inebriated  with  the  wine 
of  base  corporeal  suggestion,  commits  mutiny  in  the  sanc- 
tuary of  reason.  To  whom  then  shall  the  soul  go  but 
unto  God?  Whence  shall  it  find  deliverance  and  the 
attainment  of  holiness  but  through  Him  who  is  the  Author 
and  the  Ideal  of  holy  character? 

Here,  then,  is  the  third,  and  completing,  element  in  the 
foundation  of  the  Christian  conception  of  holiness.  Not 
only  is  there  a  revelation,  permanently  present  in  the 
Living  Christ,  of  the  absolute  moral  beauty  of  the  character 

i  Rom.  7:19-23. 


182  Barrows  Lectures 

of  God;  not  only  is  there  in  man  the  power  of  the  moral 
reason,  the  seat  of  ethical  judgments  upon  the  dignity 
and  worth  of  life,  the  mirror  of  Divine  excellence;  but, 
that  this  potential  correspondence  of  the  human  with  the 
Divine  may  not  forever  be  nullified  through  the  power  of 
natural  instincts  to  influence  the  will,  making  it  produc- 
tive of  sin  and  sin's  bitter  wage  of  personal  and  social 
misery,  there  is  an  indwelling  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the 
spirit  of  man.  The  soul  becomes  a  shrine  of  God,  and 
the  will,  once  the  coveted  prey  of  restless  and  inconse- 
quent instincts,  is  fortified  against  animalistic  impulses, 
educated  in  the  habit  of  righteousness,  surrounded  with 
an  atmosphere  of  moral  incentive  emanating  from  the  life- 
giving  Spirit  within;  so  that  a  man  may  say:  "I  live,  yet 
not  I;  Christ  liveth  in  me."1  That  this  condition  of 
Divine  indwelling  may  exist  coincidently  with  the  full 
possession  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  finite  individuality 
is  attested  by  experience  and  approved  by  philosophy. 
They  that  have  entered  into  this  life  of  holiness  know  it  as 
something  more  than  the  sphere  of  the  elementary  instincts 
of  kindness,  compassion,  gentleness,  and  patient  endur- 
ance. Desirable  and  excellent  as  are  those  instincts,  the 
holy  life,  in  Christian  experience,  stands  for  more  than 
these.  They  know  it  also  as  something  more  than  the 
unaided  action  of  the  moral  reason,  contemplating  and 
approving  the  excellence  of  God.  They  know  it  as  Power, 
personal  Power  not  themselves,  taking  up  its  abode  in  the 
soul,  exercising  its  authority  over  the  will,  and  establish- 
ing a  protectorate  of  peace  throughout  the  whole  realm  of 
the  ethical  self -consciousness.  This  is  the  abiding  of  the 
Comforter,  the  indwelling  of  the  Infinite  Spirit  in  the 
finite  spirit,  under  the  law  of  the  unity  of  Life. 

1C/.  Gal.  2:19,  20. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  183 

He  came  sweet  influence  to  impart, 

A  gracious,  willing  Guest ; 
Where  He  can  find  one  humble  heart 

Wherein  to  rest. 

And  every  virtue  we  possess, 

And  every  conquest  won  ; 
And  every  thought  of  holiness, 

Are  His  alone.1 

Such  being  the  foundation  on  which  the  Christian  con- 
ception of  holiness  is  built,  its  characteristic  notes  of 
expression  correspond  therewith.  The  consideration  of 
these  shall  occupy  the  remainder  of  this  lecture.  In  pre- 
paring to  state  the  modes  in  which,  according  to  the 
Christian  ideal,  the  holy  life  finds  expression,  I  am  entirely 
unconscious  of  theological  bias.  I  conceive  myself  to  be 
one  of  a  large  circle  of  men,  representing  all  the  greater 
religions,  who  in  common  have  been  led  by  the  influence 
of  modern  physical  and  social  science  to  regard  life  in 
this  present  world  as  full  of  magnificent  possibilities, 
involving  the  betterment  and  elevation  of  mankind. 
These  possibilities  are  largely  unfulfilled  because  man- 
kind staggers  under  a  burden  of  disability,  an  element  in 
which,  if  not  the  chief  element,  is  moral  evil.  To  cope 
with  this  evil,  relieve  this  disability,  and  help  our  brother- 
men  to  realise  the  good  of  life  is  our  united  desire.  But 
we  lack  power  to  accomplish  our  end.  The  inertia  of 
moral  evil  is  too  great  to  be  dispelled.  The  millstone  of 
sin  drags  heavily  on  the  neck  of  humanity.  Who  can 
break  that  inertia?  Who  can  cut  that  millstone  away 
from  man  and  let  it  plunge  into  the  depths  of  oblivion  ?  I, 
as  one  of  the  many  who  ask  these  questions  of  terrible 
import,  am  giving  my  answer — the  best  and  only  answer 

i  Harriet  Auber,  1829. 


184  Barrows  Lectures 

that  I  have  to  give.  Of  theological  bias  I  am  uncon- 
scious; for  academic  controversy  I  have  no  heart.  I 
have  only  love,  and  faith,  and  a  desire  to  help  toward 
answering  questions  that  press  for  answer,  not  in  India 
alone,  but  in  every  nation,  even  in  nations  that  have 
a  thousand  years  of  Christian  history  behind  them.  My 
answer  contends  that  Christ  alone  has  power  to  accom- 
plish the  end  for  which  we  all  pray,  and  this  contention 
is  supported  by  the  argument  from  experience  and  the 
appeal  to  fact.  Notwithstanding  all  the  perversions 
and  accretions  and  spurious  representations  which  have 
marred  the  history  of  Christianity,  involved  its  good 
name,  retarded  its  expansion,  and  arrayed  many  against 
it  in  deep  distrust,  Christ,  the  living  Christ,  goes  on  day 
by  day,  doing  what,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  no  other  power 
is  doing.  He  is  doing  the  thing  that  we  all  want  to  have 
done:  cutting  loose  the  millstone  of  sin  from  the  necks  of 
individuals  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  in  all  conditions  of 
life;  and  building  up,  in  millions  of  individual  instances, 
the  type  of  character,  the  species  of  motive,  the  kind  of 
personal  power,  which,  if  it  were  reproduced  in  ourselves 
and  in  all  others,  would  absolutely  relieve  the  world  of  its 
disability  and  make  of  this  present  life  a  new  creation,  a 
City  of  God  on  earth. 

In  making  this  presentment  I  have  reached  the  point 
where  a  brief  account  must  be  given  of  the  characteristic 
notes  of  the  holy  life  in  a  soul  over  which  Christ  should 
completely  prevail.  To  this  I  now  address  myself.  A 
holy  life  embodying  the  Christian  ideal  would  assert 
itself  characteristically  in  its  attitude  toward  sin,  toward 
self,  toward  God,  toward  society,  and  toward  a  future 
state  of  being. 

The  characteristic  attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  sin 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  185 

is  determined  by  the  Christian  conception  of  sin.  That, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  not  identical  with  ceremonial  pollution 
and  external  nonconformity.  The  seat  of  sin  is  the  will; 
the  primary  sphere  of  sinfulness  is  subjective.  "Out  of 
the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries, 
fornications;  these  are  the  things  which  defile  a  man."1 
The  attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  sin,  therefore, 
involves  the  elements  of  appreciation,  antagonism,  and 
sorrow.  The  appreciation  of  sin  is  progressive  in  Chris- 
tian experience:  it  corresponds  with  progressive  appre- 
ciation of  the  character  and  purpose  of  God.  As  one 
grows  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  becoming,  by  the 
practised  senses  of  the  spiritual  life,  more  competent  to 
discern  the  height  and  depth,  the  length  and  breadth,  of 
Divine  love,  a  corresponding  advance  is  made  in  the 
appreciation  of  sin.  In  the  clearing  view  of  the  wisdom, 
excellence,  and  beauty  of  all  that  the  mind  of  God  pur- 
poses for  man,  one  feels  the  malign  significance  of  every 
egoistic  self-assertion  that  resists  that  Will  and  demands 
the  fulfillment  of  volitions  governed  by  physical  instinct  or 
unethical  desire.  The  gravity  of  sin  is  felt  and  under- 
stood. It  is  more  than  contact  with  a  ceremonially  defiling 
substance  or  omission  of  a  prescribed  liturgical  act;  more 
than  a  functional  ebullition  of  natural  impulse.  It  is 
despite  done  to  the  will  of  God ;  a  dislocation  of  the  Divine 
order  that  makes  for  well-being  and  protects  the  rights  of 
all  men.  With  the  appreciation  of  sin  is  coupled  antago- 
nism toward  it.  This  is  not  blind  resistance  of  natural 
impulse,  nor  abstention  from  evil  through  fear  of  punish- 
ment, although  regulation  of  impulse  and  dread  of  conse- 
quences may  assist  the  growth  of  antagonism.  In  the  holy 
life  the  ultimate  foundation  of  antagonism  is  the  moral 

1  Matt.  15:19-20. 


186  Barrows  Lectures 

reason,  which  judges  of  the  dignity  and  worth  of  being, 
measures  the  selfishness  that  can  subordinate  religious 
and  social  duty  to  the  sway  of  passion,  beholds  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  aspires  to  look  upon 
sin  and  righteousness  as  with  the  mind  of  Christ,  and  to 
pronounce  at  a  tribunal  of  rational  judgment  the  same 
sentence  of  condemnation  against  sin  that  Christ  uttered 
by  His  words,  His  example,  and  His  death.  With  appre- 
ciation and  antagonism  is  joined,  in  the  holy  life,  sorrow 
for  sin.  As  the  Christian  views  sin  objectively,  the  bitter 
fountain  of  the  world's  woe,  the  plague  eating  into  its  life, 
his  sorrow  becomes  a  Christlike  grief.  His  spirit  groans 
within  him  to  think  of  the  ever-growing  increment  of 
misery,  of  the  "hell  and  destruction"  upon  earth  that  are 
"never  full."1  Sometimes  he  longs  with  Christ  to  give 
his  life  for  the  sin  of  the  world — a  longing  many  times 
fulfilled  in  the  annals  of  Christian  missions.  But,  as  the 
holy  life  recognises  sin  within  itself,  finds  that  apprecia- 
tion and  rational  condemnation  of  sin  do  not  at  all  times 
prevail  against  its  deceitful  entrance,  sorrow  becomes 
humiliation — the  ashes  of  repentance  for  wrong  done 
against  God,  self,  and  the  world. 

The  characteristic  attitude  maintained  toward  self  by 
the  holy  Christian  life  involves  questions  that  reach  to  the 
depths  of  any  philosophy  of  the  individual  and  the  world. 
It  is  not  possible  for  one  to  enter  the  Orient  in  an  open- 
minded  and  sympathetic  spirit  and  look  upon  the  practice 
of  Yoga,  or  the  ascetic  contemplation  of  self,  without  being 
greatly  moved.  As  a  spectacle  of  religious  concentration, 
of  calm  indifference  to  physical  pain  and  pleasure,  of 
transcendence  over  material  and  conventional  ends  in  the 
absorbed  pursuit  of  an  unworldly  object,  it  may  be  that 

iProv.  27:20. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  187 

the  Yogi  of  India  has  no  peer.  But  more  moving  than 
his  outward  demeanour  is  the  philosophical  basis  upon 
which  he  stands.  His  interests  are  not  in  the  life  that 
now  is,  because  this  life,  to  him,  is  illusion,  not  reality. 
He  is  as  one  whose  senses  are  withdrawn  from  objects  of 
sense;  whose  mind,  inwardly  concentrated,  seeks  vacuity, 
suspension  of  relations,  that  thereby  it  may  attain  eman- 
cipation from  the  phenomenal  and  illusory  self,  to  know 
and  to  become  the  Absolute  Self.  It  is  impossible,  I  say, 
for  one  who  enters  the  Orient  in  a  sympathetic  spirit,  to 
look  without  emotion  upon  the  detachment  and  concentra- 
tion of  mind,  the  renunciation  of  externals,  represented  in 
the  mighty  paradox  of  Yoga — the  extinction  of  self  in 
order  to  the  attainment  of  Self.  Two  thoughts  form 
themselves  as  I  meditate  upon  the  religious  possibilities  of 
races  capable  of  producing  and  sustaining  for  thousands 
of  years  the  asceticism  of  Yoga;  thoughts  to  which,  I 
trust,  expression  may  be  given  in  this  presence,  without 
offense,  inasmuch  as  I  speak  with  true  respect.  I  marvel 
to  think  of  the  transcendent  expression  that  might  be 
given  to  some  of  the  profoundest  principles  of  the  religion 
of  Christ,  if  natures  capable  of  assimilating  the  Yoga 
philosophy  could  assimilate  and,  with  equal  power,  prac- 
tise a  faith  that  holds  among  its  most  precious  treasures 
words  like  these:  "He  that  loveth  his  life  loseth  it,  and 
he  that  hateth  his  life  in  this  world  keepeth  it  unto  life 
eternal."1  "Set  your  mind  on  things  above,  not  on  things 
on  the  earth,  for  ye  died  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ 
in  God."2  "With  this  thought  comes  another:  As  science, 
physical  and  social,  enlarges  our  view  of  the  possibilities 
of  this  present  life,  one  sees  what  advance  might  be  made 
in  the  Orient  toward  the  removal  of  the  disability  of  moral 

1  Cf.  John  12 :  25.  »  Col .  3 : 2,  3. 


188  Barrows  Lectures 

evil  if  the  attitude  toward  self,  peculiar  to  the  Christian  ideal 
of  the  holy  life,  could  be  taken  in  matters  relating  to 
this  present  world  by  the  leaders  of  a  race  capable  of 
pursuing  the  mystical  path  of  Yoga. 

The  Christian  attitude  is  determined  by  the  inter- 
action of  the  ideas  of  individuality,  consecration,  stew- 
ardship. To  claim  the  consciousness  of  individuality  is 
not  to  commit  one's  self  to  a  dualistic  philosophy  abhor- 
rent to  Eastern  minds  and,  in  an  increasing  degree,  to 
Western  thinkers  also.  The  essential  thought  in  indi- 
viduality is  uniqueness  ;  that  each  person  is  an  expression, 
real  and  unique,  of  a  Divine  intention ;  that  each  person 
fills  a  place  in  the  world  not  filled  by  any  other,  and  is 
an  expression  of  the  mind  of  God  not  duplicated  else- 
where. Such  a  conception  of  self,  co-ordinated  with  ideas 
more  distinctively  Christian,  invests  life  with  solemn 
meaning  and  with  immediate  value.1  A  person  is  more 
than  a  fleeting  apparition.  Beneath  the  transitory  form 
of  life  which  to  Christian  as  well  as  to  Hindu  seems  but 
as  the  vapour  that  appeareth  for  a  little  while  and  then 
vanisheth  away,  is  reality,  the  reality  of  Divine  intention. 
A  man  is  an  incarnate  thought  of  God.  And  not  inten- 
tion only  ;  but  unique  intention.  By  the  thought  of  God 
I  am  what  I  am.  In  me  God  expresses  what  He  expresses 
in  no  other  ;  what,  apart  from  me,  shall  remain  unex- 
pressed. This  is  my  individuality.  This  makes  my  place 
in  life.  I  may  be  in  errour,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  this 
conception  of  self,  a  positive  to  which  an  impressive  nega- 
tive is  found  in  the  Yoga  philosophy,  offers  hope  to  the 
world  and  relates  itself  rationally  to  the  present  problem 
of  the  world.  If  our  brothers  are  to  be  lifted  to  better 
things,  if  the  millstone  is  to  be  taken  away,  this  shall  be 

1  Cf.  Eotce,  The  World  and  the  Individual,  passim. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  189 

achieved  by  men  who  feel  that  God  is  thinking  His 
thoughts  through  them  and  doing  His  deeds  by  them 
here  and  now. 

With  the  idea  of  individuality  is  joined  consecration, 
in  the  Christian  conception  of  the  holy  life.  Consecra- 
tion is  the  appreciation  of  self,  by  the  moral  reason,  as  a 
unique  expression  of  God's  thought ;  and  it  is  the  response 
of  the  will  thereto.  Perceiving  the  Divine  origin  and  the 
unique  quality  of  my  individuality,  I  will  to  yield  my 
whole  being  to  God,  that  His  intention  may  be  fulfilled 
in  me.  But,  in  the  attempt  to  carry  this  volition  into 
effect,  my  will  is  assailed  by  corporeal  and  other  sugges- 
tions, prompted  by  the  instincts  of  my  bodily  self.  I  am 
tempted  by  erroneous  self-assertion  to  sin  against  the 
Divine  order.  How  shall  these  instincts  be  dealt  with  ? 
At  this  point  theories  of  asceticism  diverge.  Some  say 
that  they  shall  be  crushed  and  extirpated ;  that  even  the 
instinct  toward  life,  the  will  to  live,  must  perish.  But,  in 
the  Christian  ideal  of  the  holy  life,  corporeal  instincts 
are  normal,  and  even  the  cosmic  body,  the  body  of  the 
flesh,  is  holy,  a  temple  of  God.  Its  instincts  are  not  to 
be  extirpated,  but  to  be  governed  and  guided  by  the 
higher  law  of  the  moral  reason.  Its  care  and  culture  are 
not  to  be  refused,  but  maintained  in  all  purity  and  clean- 
ness, as  the  care  and  culture  of  that  which  forever  is  con- 
secrated through  the  Incarnation  of  Christ.  The  body, 
as  an  element  of  the  individual,  is  to  be  presented  unto 
God,  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  in  His  sight, 
which  is  our  reasonable  service.1 

The  thought  of  self,  in  the  holy  life,  finds  completion 
in  the  idea  of  stewardship — stewardship  inseparable  from 
the  remembrance  of  Christ  as  the  suffering  Saviour.     "Ye 

1C/.  Rom.  12:1. 


190  Barrows  Lectures 

are  not  your  own;  for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  even  the 
precious  Blood  of  Christ ;  therefore  glorify  God  in  your 
body  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's."1  As  we  go 
back  in  our  thought  to  find  the  meaning  of  this,  I  am 
sure  that  the  intellectual  consistency  of  that  meaning  will 
appear  to  those  who,  for  other  reasons,  withhold  their 
religious  assent.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  higher 
Christian  thinking,  the  Divine  repugnance  toward  sin 
finds  its  consummate  expression  in  the  terms  of  death,  the 
Death  on  the  Cross.  Sin  is  repugnant  to  God  because  it 
is  the  self-injury  of  those  He  loves,  whom  He  made  for 
happy  and  enlarging  correspondence  with  Himself.  To 
save  them  from  that  self-injury  is  the  mission  of  the  suf- 
fering Christ.  "He  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live 
should  not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  Him 
which  died  for  them  and  rose  again."2  The  thought  of 
self  receives  its  deepest  tone  from  the  Cross.  The  con- 
ception of  individuality  has  indeed  power  to  dignify  life 
with  the  sense  of  uniqueness  and  to  appeal  to  the  moral 
reason ;  but  the  vision  of  the  suffering  Saviour  conquers 
the  heart  and  brings  the  affections  to  the  Feet  of  God. 
Life  no  longer  is  one's  own.  Henceforth  it  belongs  to 
the  Love  that  speaks  through  Death;  "the  Son  of  God, 
who  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  up  for  me."3 

This  analysis  of  the  thought  of  self  prepares  one  to 
understand  the  attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  God.  It 
springs  out  of  the  sense  of  individuality  already  consid- 
ered. Each  finite  self  being  a  unique  expression  of  the 
Divine  thought,  an  unduplicated  image  of  God,  self  turns 
to  God  as  the  child  turns  to  its  father,  obeying  the  law  of 
the  unity  of  life.  A  fine  expression  of  the  attraction 
founded  on  kinship  of  nature  is  given  in  the  lines  of  a 
Christian  hymn : 

U  Cor.  6:19,  20.  2  2  Cor.  5:15.  3  Gal.  2:20. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  191 

Rivers  to  the  ocean  run, 

Nor  stay  in  all  their  course ; 
Fire  ascending  seeks  the  sun  ; 

Both  speed  them  to  their  source ; 
So,  a  soul  that's  born  of  God 

Pants  to  view  His  glorious  Face, 
Upward  tends  to  His  abode, 

To  rest  in  His  embrace.1 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  approach  to  God  is  different 
from  an  a  priori  metaphysical  approach  by  the  path  of 
speculation.  The  intellect  may  exercise  itself  upon  the 
abstract  idea  of  God,  may  define  in  the  terms  of  specula- 
tive thought  the  nature  of  a  metaphysical  Absolute  ;  but 
this  is  very  different  from  the  promptings  of  feeling,  the 
Godward  suggestions,  that  press  upon  the  will  from 
depths  of  consciousness  below  the  levels  of  analysis.  Such 
involuntary  desire  has  its  true  and  not  unworthy  symbol 
in  the  fundamental  instincts  of  physical  being:  "As  the 
hart  panteth  after  the  water  brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul 
after  Thee,  O  God."2  It  is  different,  also,  from  ceremonial 
approach  to  the  shrine  of  a  deity,  in  order  that  the  inter- 
ests of  the  worshipper  may  be  advanced  ;  for  example,  the 
approach  with  gifts  to  awaken  the  attention  of  the  god 
and  secure  his  favour ;  or  the  approach  with  propitiatory 
sacrifices,  to  turn  away  his  wrath.  So  long  as  religion 
continues  in  the  earth,  these  ceremonial  approaches  will 
be  made  ;  but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  they  stand  in  quite 
another  category  of  action  from  the  instinctive  outgoing 
of  the  finite  soul  to  Him  whose  Life  is  the  fountain  of  its 
own  life ;  whose  Thought  finds  expression  in  the  unique- 
ness of  each  individual  personality. 

This  instinctive  outgoing  of  feeling  toward  God  is  the 
normal  experience  of  life.     Where  it  seems  to  exist  not, 

i  Sib  Robebt  Skagbave.  2  ps.  42 : 1 . 


192  Barrows  Lectures 

hindering  conditions  often  may  be  found.  Some  specu- 
lative or  ceremonial  conception  of  God,  imposed  upon 
consciousness  by  the  authority  of  tradition,  may  bind 
the  soul  with  metaphysical  bonds  and  repress  its  spon- 
taneity; or  the  habit  of  sin,  which  is  continuous  self- 
assertion  against  the  Divine  order,  may  create  a  sense  of 
alienation  from  the  life  of  God.  Nothing  proves  more 
conclusively  that  sin  is  abnormal  than  spiritual  estrange- 
ment from  God.  "What  have  I  to  do  with  Thee?"  was 
the  cry  of  him  possessed  of  a  demon,  as  Christ  drew  near.1 
It  is  typical  of  life,  which  everywhere,  until  the  demon 
of  sin  is  exorcised,  recoils  from  God.  But  day  by  day 
Christ,  the  life-making  Spirit  in  the  world,  is  loosing  the 
bonds  of  human  souls.  The  spell  of  speculative  pessi- 
mism He  dissolves  by  the  warm,  intelligible  revelation  of 
Himself,  while  to  the  estranged  and  sullen  evil-doer  He 
advances,  not  with  the  sentence  of  death,  but  with  the 
offer  of  life  upon  His  lips.  Whoever  touches  Him  with 
the  hand  of  faith  is  made  whole.  Mists  of  speculation 
vanish  before  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Estranged  sinners  become  as  little  children, 
escaping  from  the  loneliness  of  wrong-doing  unto  the 
Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  their  souls.  So  the  spirit  returns 
to  God  who  gave  it;  the  being  that  He  made  for  Himself 
ceases  from  restlessness,  to  rest  in  Him. 

This  attitude  of  the  holy  life  toward  God,  springing 
from  the  sense  of  individuality,  realises  itself  continuously 
in  the  terms  of  communion,  whereof  Prayer  is  both  the 
expression  and  the  instrument.  Prayer  has  been  called 
"the  Christian's  vital  breath."  The  symbol  is  not  infelici- 
tously  chosen,  for  prayer  is  the  functional  expression 
of  our  individuality.     We  pray  because  God  is  the  Foun- 

Wf.  Mark  5: 1-20. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  193 

tain  of  our  being,  in  whom  we  live  and  move.  Prayer 
may  take  on  forms  prescribed  by  custom  and  may  reflect 
ideas  evolved  from  philosophy.  These  are  externals,  the 
husks  and  wrappings  of  a  substance  too  vital  and  esoteric 
to  be  analysed.  Prayer  is  not  a  custom  acquired  from 
without,  but  a  function  emerging  from  within.  It  is  not 
even  a  prescription  of  the  moral  reason.  We  do  not  pray 
because  the  moral  reason  affirms  that  prayer  is  rational 
or  that  prayer  is  duty ;  we  know  only  that  it  is  an  element 
of  individuality  to  pray,  that  it  is  in  the  nature  of  things 
to  pray,  and  that,  if  we  should  hold  our  peace,  the  stones 
would  cry  out.  The  verification  of  prayer  as  a  normal 
function  comes  with  the  experience  of  its  power.  The 
conviction  strengthens  that  "more  things  are  wrought  by 
prayer  than  this  world  dreams  of."  Prayer  is  not  for  the 
Christian  as  the  cry  of  the  priests  of  Baal  to  a  distant 
god,  who  may  be  sleeping  or  journeying,  and  whose 
attention  must  be  arrested.  Nor  for  him  is  it  as  the  act, 
meritorious  in  itself,  which  by  repetition  takes  on  cumu- 
lative values.  It  is  the  instrument  of  the  communion  of 
life,  the  medium  of  thought-transmission,  the  channel  of 
Divine  gifts.  Its  use  we  learn  by  experience.  By  it  we 
speak  with  God,  as  a  man  speaks  with  his  friend.  In 
it  we  worship,  giving  to  Him  the  consent  of  the  will,  the 
allegiance  and  appreciation  of  the  moral  reason.  Through 
it  we  disburden  our  soul  of  pent-up  grief  and  fear;  of 
sorrow,  contrition,  solicitude  for  others.  And  as  light, 
streaming  from  the  sun,  fills  the  well  of  the  eye,  so 
thought  and  influence  flowing  from  the  Seat  of  Power 
make  prayer  their  channel  to  the  finite  soul;  influence 
that  builds  up  the  inner  life  by  inspiring  the  will  to  just 
volitions,  that  replenishes  hope,  regulates  instinct, 
enlightens  judgment,  consoles  sorrow,  and  often  extends 


194  Barrows  Lectures 

its  benign  offices  to  other  lives,  whom,  by  the  might  of 
faith,  we  have  incorporated  with  our  own  in  the  act  of 
intercession. 

Lord,  what  a  change  within  us  one  short  hour, 
Spent  in  Thy  presence,  can  prevail  to  make; 
What  heavy  burdens  from  our  bosoms  take, 
What  parched  grounds  refresh  as  with  a  shower! 
We  kneel,  and  all  around  us  seems  to  lower; 
We  rise,  and  all,  the  distant  and  the  near, 
Stands  forth  in  sunny  outline,  brave  and  clear; 
We  kneel  how  weak,  we  rise  how  full  of  power! 
Why  then  should  we  do  ourselves  this  wrong, 
Or  others,  that  we  are  not  always  strong  ? 
That  we  are  ever  overborne  with  care, 
That  we  should  ever  weak  or  faithless  be — 
Anxious  or  troubled — when  with  us  is  prayer; 
And  joy  and  hope,  and  courage  are  with  Thee!1 

Such  being  the  nature  of  communion  with  God,  it  is 
inevitable  that  the  feeling  which  animates  the  Christian 
in  his  relation  to  Grod  shall  be  holy  love.  That  love,  like 
much  else  most  real  and  most  distinctive  in  the  life  that 
I  am  endeavouring  to  describe,  is  the  fruit  of  experience. 
"We  love  because  He  first  loved  us."2  We  have  seen 
and  felt  for  ourselves  that  transcendent  Love  incarnating 
itself  in  Christ,  disclosing  itself  by  the  supreme  test  of 
suffering;  we  feel  it  now,  in  the  ever-present  life-making 
Spirit,  who  gives  forth  upon  us  day  by  day  influence 
wholly  constructive,  promoting  the  blessedness,  elevation, 
and  efficiency  of  existence.  Our  response  to  this  love 
becomes  at  length  inevitable.  We  would  not  and  we  cannot 
withhold  an  answering  affection.  We  know  Him,  whom 
we  have  believed,  and  are  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to 
guard  that  which  we  have  committed  to  Him.3     And  so 

i  Aechbishop  Trench.  2 1  John  4 :  19.  3  Qf.  2  Tim.  1 :  12. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  195 

we  give  Him  our  fullest  confidence ;  we  implore  His  for- 
giveness when  we  fall;  we  seek  His  guidance  in  every 
problem  of  conduct;  we  count  upon  His  sustaining  grace 
in  temptation  and  hardship;  and  when,  the  journey  of 
life  being  over,  the  mysteries  of  the  unseen  world  con- 
front us,  into  His  hands  we  commend  our  spirits.  I 
make  no  apology  for  the  unreserved  belief  in  the  Per- 
sonality of  God  to -which,  by  these  words,  I  stand  com- 
mitted. The  grounds  of  that  belief  already  have  been 
discussed  in  these  lectures.  For  the  present,  abstaining 
from  philosophy  and  speaking  in  the  vernacular  of  com- 
mon life,  I  ask  only  if  there  be  not  in  this  conception  of 
God  and  in  this  attitude  toward  Him  that  which  tends  to 
sweeten  and  sustain  the  soul  of  man  in  the  life  that  now  is. 
Such  being  the  spirit  of  love  developed  in  a  holy  life, 
according  to  the  Christian  ideal,  by  deep  communion 
with  God,  the  full  significance  of  that  loving  spirit  does 
not  appear  until  we  consider  it  in  its  attitude  toward 
society.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the  social  attitude,  the 
relation  in  which  it  sets  man  toward  man,  is  the  final 
test  of  the  value  of  a  religion.  It  may,  of  course,  be  con- 
tended, with  reason,  that  the  social  attitude  maintained 
by  a  religion  depends  upon  its  conception  of  the  nature 
of  man  and  of  the  present  world.  If,  for  example,  it  is 
the  theory  of  that  religion,  many  of  whose  members  I  am 
now  addressing,  that  the  present  world  and  the  individu- 
als therein  are  parts  of  a  vast  illusion;  that  joy  and  sor- 
row are  alike  unreal;  that  the  only  real  interest  is  mental 
concentration  upon  self  in  order  to  the  suspension  of 
illusory  relations  and  the  escape  from  finitude  by  knowl- 
edge of  the  Absolute,  it  is  evident  that  the  conception  of 
the  holy  life  may  in  that  religion  develop  on  non-social 
lines,  its  end  being  emancipation  from  personal  bonds. 


196  Barrows  Lectures 

From  this  point  of  view  the  path  of  holiness  may  lead 
away  from  social  contacts  into  esoteric  solitude,  and  the 
ascent  toward  God  may  be  measured  by  grades  of  reli- 
gious abhorrence  toward  those  far  down  in  the  depths  of 
ignorance  and  illusion.  If  this  be  a  principle  in  the  phi- 
losophy of  caste,  it  is  not  without  logical  justification. 
On  the  other  hand,  one  of  the  great  religious  systems  of 
the  world  eliminates  alike  a  metaphysical  Absolute  and 
a  finite  self;  maintains  that  all  life,  "whether  of  gods  or 
of  men  or  of  brute  creatures,  is  essentially  and  finally  the 
same,  and  that  each  form  of  life  is  merely  one  link  in  a 
series  of  successive  existences  and  inseparably  bound  up 
with  misery ;  and  that  man's  great  object  must  be  to  get 
rid  of  individual  existence."  1  The  chief  end  in  this  reli- 
gion is  knowledge ;  not  the  knowledge  of  God  in  order  to 
union  with  'the  One  Self,  but  knowledge  of  the  real 
nature  of  things  in  order  to  final  beatitude  in  the  extinc- 
tion of  desire.2  In  the  pursuit  of  this  end  caste  is  oblit- 
erated with  its  logical  self- withdrawal  from  social  contacts, 
and,  in  its  place,  the  service  of  human  lives  by  kindness 
and  gentleness  becomes  paramount  as  a  means,  together 
with  purity,  meditation,  and  noble  conduct,  to  the  attain- 
ment of  that  knowledge  which  is  the  condition  of  beati- 
tude. 

Between  these  two  religions  the  attitude  of  Chris- 
tianity, especially  in  its  conception  of  the  social  duty  of 
a  holy  life,  stands  in  the  most  interesting  relations  of 
thought,  yet  with  qualities  completely  distinctive.  On 
the  one  hand,  with  Hinduism,  the  Christian  ideal  of 
holiness  is  contemplative.     It  is  the  life  hid  with  Christ 

1C/.  Salmond,  Christian  Doctrine  of  Immortality,  4th  ed.,  p.  30;  Sir  M. 
Monier  Williams,  Buddhism,  p.  90;  Bishop  Coplestone,  Buddhism,  Primitive 
and  Present,  p.  114. 

2  Cf.  Professor  Bhys  Davids,  Hibbert  Lectures,  pp.  100-107. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  197 

in  God;  the  life  withdrawn  from  the  world  and  its  illu- 
sive vanities,  separated  unto  God,  called  to  sainthood; 
looking  not  at  the  things  that  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
that  are  not  seen:  looking  for  the  blessed  hope  and  the 
Beatific  Vision,  when  He  shall  appear  and  we  shall  be 
like  Him,  seeing  Him  as  He  is.1  On  the  other  hand, 
with  Buddhism,  the  Christian  ideal  of  the  noble  path  is 
love;  beneficent,  compassionate,  patient,  magnanimous 
social  love ;  that  suffereth  long  and  is  kind ;  that  thinketh 
no  evil;  that  rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the 
truth ;  that  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth 
all  things,  endureth  all  things;  that  never  faileth.2  If  the 
Christian  ideal  of  the  holy  life  in  respect  of  its  social 
attitude  were  to  be  represented  upon  earth  by  some  being 
completely  free  from  local  prejudice,  and  uncontaminated 
by  worldly  policy,  it  would  assimilate  much  that  others 
believe  and  practise ;  yet  in  such  recombination,  and  with 
such  infusion  of  distinctive  qualities,  as  would  make  the 
result  unique.  It  would  be  found  that  the  ideal  of 
Christianity  is  not  the  obliteration  of  social  distinctions. 
Such  obliteration,  were  it  possible,  would  be  an  offense 
against  reason.  Differentiations  inhere  in  the  nature  of 
things.  There  are  diversities  of  gifts,  of  functions,  of 
intellectual  and  social  possibilities,  running  through  all 
life,  conditioning  society.  To  obliterate  them  is  impos- 
sible; to  ignore  them  is  irrational;  to  defy  them  is  unjust. 
Christ  sought  not  to  obliterate  them,  but  to  regulate 
them  upon  a  basis  of  social  love.  The  essential  spirit  of 
Christianity  in  this  matter  is  well  expressed  in  the  words 
of  St.  Paul:  "Let  every  soul  be  in  subjection  to  the 
higher    powers.     Render   to   all    their    dues:    tribute    to 

1C/.  Col.  2:3;  2  Cor.  4:18;  Titus  2:13;  Uohn3:2. 
2C/.1  Cor.  13:4-8. 


198  Barrows  Lectures 

whom  tribute  is  due;  custom  to  whom  custom;  fear  to 
whom  fear;  honour  to  whom  honour.  Owe  no  man  any- 
thing, save  to  love  one  another;  for  he  that  loveth  the 
other  hath  fulfilled  the  law."1  The  social  order  being 
found  to  contain  distinctions  that  exist  in  the  nature  of 
things,  the  aim  of  a  perfectly  holy  being  would  be  to 
serve,  in  accordance  with  a  principle  of  love,  the  best 
interests  of  each  individual  member  of  this  complex  social 
order.  That  which  would  make  this  aim  of  social  service 
distinctive  would  be  the  influence  of  the  two  fundamental 
convictions,  that  individuality  is  real  and  that  existence 
is  good.  The  attitude  toward  society  would  be  deter- 
mined by  the  same  force  that  determines  the  attitude 
toward  self — the  sense  of  individuality.  Already  we 
have  seen  that  that  implies  uniqueness:  that  each  person 
is  an  embodiment,  real  and  unique,  of  a  Divine  intention, 
fills  a  place  in  the  world  not  filled  by  any  other,  and  is 
an  expression,  a  thought,  of  God,  not  duplicated  else- 
where. This  gives  significance  and  dignity  to  man  as 
man,  apart  from  the  accidents  of  social  differentiation. 
The  human  being — not  a  caste,  not  a  race — would  be  the 
unit  of  value,  because  of  what  a  human  being  stands  for 
as  an  individual.  "Every  man  is  so  related  to  the  world 
and  to  the  very  life  of  God  that  in  order  to  be  an  indi- 
vidual at  all,  a  man  must  be  very  much  nearer  to  the 
Eternal  than  in  our  present  life  we  are  accustomed  to 
observe."2  From  the  point  of  view  of  this  ideally  holy 
being  whom  we  are  describing,  every  man  would  be 
regarded  as  standing  in  relation  to  that  one  divine  Event 
which  implies  the  kinship  of  humanity  with  God;  namely, 
the  Incarnation  of  God  in  Christ. 

1  Cf.  Rom.,  chap.  13,  passim. 

2  Rovce,  The  Conception  of  Immortality,  p.  5. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  199 

In  the  words  of  a  great  Christian  teacher,  who  was  also 
a  great  lover  of  humanity:  "The  Incarnation  is  God's 
witness  to  the  ideal  relation  of  all  men  to  Himself.  For 
the  knowledge  and  enjoyment  of  this  relationship  every 
man  was  created.  To  those  therefore  who  have  received 
the  Christian  Revelation  there  is  in  every  man,  no  matter 
how  mean  and  wretched  his  external  condition,  how  feeble 
and  neglected  his  intellectual  powers,  how  coarse  his 
habits,  how  gross  his  vices,  the  possibility  of  realising 
this  wonderful  life."1  With  this  conception  of  individu- 
ality would  be  joined  the  belief  that  existence  is  good  and 
not  evil  in  itself;  that  man  was  made  with  an  instinct  for 
appropriating  and  using  life,  and  not  for  renouncing  and 
escaping  from  it;  that  this  present  life  is  a  field  for 
rational  enjoyment,  effective  service,  and  the  upbuilding 
of  the  splendid  structure  of  character  which  has  been 
defined  as  "the  personality  built  up  within  by  successive 
acts  of  volition."2  It  would  be  the  conviction  of  this 
being  that  that  which  has  made  the  world  sad  and  life- 
sick  is  not  any  quality  inherent  in  life,  but  removable 
disabilities  projected  upon  life  by  abnormal  relations 
toward  God.  The  certainty  of  this  would  be  confirmed 
in  his  mind  by  the  historic  Incarnation  of  Christ,  as 
affirming  man's  kinship  with  God;  by  Christ's  world-wide 
interest  and  affection;  by  His  eagerness  to  draw  men  to 
God  and  His  condemnation  of  sin  by  word,  example,  and 
death;  and  by  the  cumulative  evidence  that  the  Risen 
and  Living  Christ  does  possess  power  to  make  existence 
good  and  beautiful  for  vast  multitudes  of  people.  It 
would  be  obvious,  therefore,  to  this  ideally  holy  being 
that  the  whole  world  has  the  right  to  share  in  the  good 

i  Schmidt,  Social  Results  of  Early  Christianity,  Preliminary  Essay,  by  R. 
W.  Dale,  p.  17. 

2  Percy  Gardner,  Exploratio  Evangelica,  p.  31. 


200  Barrows  Lectures 

of  existence  and  to  know  the  way  thereto;  and  so,  with- 
out a  thought  of  unseemly  intrusion  into  the  domain  of 
other  faiths,  without  an  interest  in  the  worldly  rivalry  of 
proselytism,  with  the  one  loving  wish  to  make  men  know 
the  worth  of  their  own  lives  to  God,  to  themselves,  and 
to  their  fellow-men,  he  would  go  everywhere,  declaring 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  name  of 
Him  who  came  that  we  might  have  life  and  that  we  might 
have  it  more  abundantly.  And  if  the  sweetness  and  sim- 
plicity of  his  purpose  were  thus  understood,  I  believe  that 
he  would  be  welcome  everywhere,  as  a  messenger  of  hope, 
a  son  of  consolation. 

In  closing  this  lecture  upon  the  Christian  conception 
of  the  Holy  Life,  wherein  I  have  considered  as  character- 
istic notes  of  expression  its  attitude  toward  sin,  toward 
self,  toward  God,  and  toward  society,  it  remains  to  speak 
of  that  which  is  necessary  to  complete  the  significance  of 
all  that  has  gone  before — the  attitude  of  the  Holy  Life 
toward  a  future  state  of  being.  On  any  theory  of  human 
personality,  it  will  be  admitted  that  man  is  differentiated 
from  other  orders  of  animal  life  by  his  ability  to  contem- 
plate death  in  its  relation  to  his  present  state,  and  to 
forecast  the  occurrence  of  his  own  death  as  an  experience 
through  which  he  must  expect  to  pass.  Perhaps  every 
conceivable  type  of  emotion  has  been  stirred  by  the  con- 
templation of  death.  To  some  it  has  seemed  to  be  the 
rude  interruption  of  life's  plans,  the  dismal  terminal  of 
its  efficiency,  the  fountain  of  sorrows,  the  destroyer  of 
hopes.  Others  have  welcomed  death  as  a  resting-place 
in  the  weary  pilgrimage  of  existence,  a  vaguely  blessed 
exit  from  the  labyrinth  of  illusion,  a  release  from  suffer- 
ing, a  door  of  hope.  But  when,  passing  beneath  these 
emotions  and  the  human  instincts  that  produce  them,  we 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  201 

try  to  estimate  the  deeper  philosophical  significance  of 
death  considered  as  the  final  fact  in  our  present  state  of 
being,  it  is  evident  that  we  must  look,  not  upon  the  mere 
physical  incident  of  the  dissolution  of  the  body,  but  upon 
our  belief  concerning  the  existence  that  follows  the  event, 
which,  for  want  of  a  clearer  knowledge  of  its  content,  we 
call  Death.  The  philosophical  significance  of  death  can 
be  stated  only  in  the  terms  of  life  continuing  beyond  the 
grave.  This  the  great  thinkers  of  the  more  masterful 
religions  have  recognised. 

It  is  not  possible  to  state  the  Christian  view  of  immor- 
tality and  to  point  out  its  inspiring  effect  upon  our  present 
life  without  referring  to  one  of  the  dominant  conceptions 
of  Indian  philosophy — reincarnation,  or  the  transmigra- 
tion of  the  soul.  I  need  not  say  that  I  make  this  refer- 
ence with  profound  respect.  It  was  said  by  Professor 
Max  Mtiller:  "The  idea  of  immortality  was  the  common 
property  of  all  Indian  philosophers.  It  was  so  com- 
pletely taken  for  granted  that  we  look  in  vain  for  any 
elaborate  arguments  in  support  of  it."1  I  may  perhaps  be 
allowed  to  say,  as  a  Western,  that  no  aspect  of  Indian 
thought  awakens  within  me  greater  reverence  and  admira- 
tion than  this  "unwavering  belief  in  future  and  eternal 
life."  It  imparts  to  cultivated  and  esoteric  Hinduism  an 
impressive  gravity  and  patience.  Life  projects  itself 
beyond  death  into  the  mists  of  incalculable  distance,  a 
path  too  vast  for  measurement;  if  one  may  use  Matthew 
Arnold's  words,  a  task  "too  great  for  haste."  The  con- 
sciousness, born  of  belief  in  reincarnation,  that  the  present 
sojourn  within  the  habitable  world  is  but  one  brief  step 
in  a  tremendous  procession  of  existences,  issuing  from  the 
past  and  extending  into  the  future,  gives  to  the  higher 

i  Max  MOllee,  Six  Systems  of  Indian  Philosophy,  p.  138. 


202  Barrows  Lectures 

Hinduism  an  unworldly  point  of  view  not  far  from  sub- 
limity. It  rebukes  the  narrow,  unchastened  materialism 
that  abandons  itself  to  the  pleasures  of  time,  dismissing 
the  problems  of  eternity  with  the  shallow  argument: 
"Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  tomorrow  we  die."1  Such 
animalistic  contentment  with  the  present  is  abhorrent  to 
the  higher  Hinduism  for  two  reasons :  it  ignores  the  prin- 
ciple of  Karma,  consenting  to  live  as  if  there  were  no 
hereafter,  wherein  the  consequences  of  action  shall  sur- 
vive and  work  themselves  out  to  their  conclusions;  it 
ignores  also  the  final  goal  of  being,  which  is  liberation 
from  the  finite,  illusory  self  through  the  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  Brahma,  and  chooses  to  live  as  if  the  physical 
were  the  only  real,  and  the  unseen  and  infinite  were  fig- 
ments of  the  imagination. 

I  am  quite  ready  to  agree  that  nothing  in  Christian 
thought  is  more  striking  in  its  appeal  to  the  ethical 
imagination  than  the  principle  of  Karma,  as  applied  to 
the  problem  of  future  existence  in  the  metaphysic  of  the 
higher  Hinduism.  To  yield  one's  self  consistently  to  its 
influence,  one  would  think,  must  furnish  complete  deliver- 
ance from  the  base  fascinations  of  physical  indulgence, 
and  "perpetual  motive  to  a  stern  and  melancholy  righteous- 
ness." Whether  it  does,  in  fact,  operate  thus  in  the  lives 
of  those  who  live  under  its  influence  I  am  incapable  of 
judging;  but  I  agree  with  my  learned  predecessor 
in  this  Lectureship  when  he  says:  "The  theory  of  a 
soul,  which,  at  the  bidding  of  its  own  vices  and  virtues, 
wanders  through  a  multitude  of  bodies  and  dwells  in  an 
endless  succession  of  miserable  or  happy  states,  holds  the 
Hindu  in  an  iron  grasp  which  neither  the  lapse  of  time 
nor  the  change  of  religion  can  loosen.     In  its  light  life 

1C/.  1  Cor.,  15:16-34. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  203 

becomes  tragic;  individual  existence  may  seem  trivial, 
but  the  vision  of  the  infinite  series  of  births  and  deaths, 
with  their  infinite  degrees  of  glory  or  shame,  all  inex- 
tricably interwoven  with  this  moment  and  its  transient 
acts,  may  well  move  or  appall  the  most  realistic  imagina- 
tion."1 It  is  because  my  ethical  sense  responds  to  the 
Hindu  doctrine  of  Karma  and  acknowledges  its  force  that 
I  find  deep  satisfaction  in  presenting,  in  these  closing 
sentences,  some  elements  of  the  Christian  view  of  immor- 
tality and  of  its  power  to  enhance  the  dignity,  sanctity, 
and  joy  of  life  in  this  present  world.  I  am  glad  to 
believe  that  my  learned  hearers  can  the  more  readily 
apprehend  that  whereof  I  speak,  because  their  own  reli- 
gious traditions  are  saturated  with  the  conception  of 
immortality.  To  get  the  Christian  point  of  view,  it  is 
necessary  to  recall  the  postulates  that  have  conditioned 
all  our  thinking  in  these  lectures :  the  Personality  of  God 
and  the  reality  of  the  finite  individual;  God,  not  imper- 
sonal being,  but  self-conscious,  self-determining  Life; 
and  the  soul  of  man,  not  an  illusion,  but  a  veritable 
emanation  from  the  Absolute,  endowed  with  the  real 
properties  of  individuality;  real  in  its  uniqueness;  each 
soul  a  unique  embodiment  of  Divine  purpose,  capable  of 
correspondence  and  communion  with  its  Author.  Upon 
this  basis  Christianity  builds  its  joyful  doctrine  of 
immortality.  Man  is,  in  a  sense,  necessary  to  God  even 
as  God  is  necessary  to  man;  each  soul  is  precious  in 
God's  sight  as  a  means  for  His  self- fulfillment:  "A  com- 
munion like  this  is  not  born  for  death.  The  more  pro- 
found and  penetrating  it  is,  the  more  complete  God's 
self-impartation  and  man's  capacity  of  receiving  it,  so 
much  the  more  clearly  is  man  bound  up  with  the  abiding- 

'Faiebaibn,  "Race  and  Religion  in  India,"  Contemporary  Review,  Vol. 
LXXVI  (1899),  p.  162. 


204  Barrows  Lectures 

ness  of  God.  'This  is  life  eternal,  to  know  Thee,  the 
only  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  Thou  hast  sent.' 
If  man's  immortality  is  involved  in  his  power  of  knowing 
God  as  the  holy  and  merciful  One,  it  becomes  doubly 
sure  when  God's  fellowship  with  him  has  the  personal 
significance  implied  in  Fatherhood  and  sonship.  The 
recognition  of  it  is  not  an  inference  from  that  fellowship: 
it  is  a  realisation  of  what  the  fellowship  means."1 

Christianity  is,  essentially,  the  religion  of  life  and 
immortality  —  the  ever-blessed  life  of  the  immortal  indi- 
vidual. As  individuality  is  regarded  a  boon  and  not  a 
curse,  a  glad  and  desirable  reality,  and  not  a  hindering 
and  burdensome  illusion,  so  the  continuance  and  con- 
summation of  individuality  beyond  death  in  the  unveiled 
presence  of  God  our  Father  is  deemed  the  greatest  of  all 
gifts.  The  gift  of  God,  the  royal  bounty,  is  eternal  life.2 
And  this  gift,  in  all  its  fullness  of  good,  is  made  the  sure 
possession  of  each  obedient  soul  in  and  by  Christ,  the 
Manifested  God,  the  Incarnate  Life-giver.  "I  am  come," 
He  declares,  "that  they  might  have  life  and  that  they  might 
have  it  more  abundantly."3  "I  am  the  Resurrection  and 
the  Life;  He  that  believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead, 
yet  shall  he  live,  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in 
Me  shall  never  die."4  The  continuance  of  this  blessed 
life  of  the  immortal  individual  is  the  coronation  of  per- 
sonality. "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give 
thee  a  crown  of  life."5  Why  is  there  this  difference 
between  Hindu  thought  and  Christian  thought  regarding 
the  continuance  of  finite  personality  after  death?  Why 
is   the  idea    sorrow  and   weariness  to  the  one,  joy  and 

i  Fobbest,  The  Christ  of  History  and  of  Experience,  p.  15. 
2  Cf.  Rom.  6 :  23.  3  John  10 :  10. 

*  John  11: 25,  26.  »Eev.  2:10. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  205 

triumph  to  the  other  ?  The  answer  lies  at  the  very  heart 
of  our  respective  conceptions  of  being.  To  the  Christian 
the  soul  is  the  offspring  of  God,  and  its  individuality  is 
not  a  blinding  veil  to  be  rent  in  twain  and  cast  aside;  it 
is  a  glorious  endowment  to  be  maintained  forever.  Death 
is  but  a  physical  incident  in  life.  The  eternal  life  of 
personality  is  realised  here  and  now  by  the  enlightened 
Christian.  The  assurance  of  his  own  destiny  comes  to 
him  in  and  through  the  Resurrection  of  the  Son  of  God. 
In  Christ  Incarnate  he  beholds  the  stamp  of  reality  set 
upon  his  own  humanity,  so  that  manhood  is  no  illusion, 
but  a  fact  most  precious  in  the  sight  of  God.  In  Christ 
Incarnate  he  sees  the  corporate  Representative  of  the 
whole  human  race,  experiencing  earthly  life,  tasting 
human  death,  for  every  man;  then  rising  from  the  grave 
in  power,  bursting  its  bonds,  casting  away  its  cords,  and 
proclaiming  unto  all,  who,  through  holy  obedience,  are 
in  union  with  God:  "Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live 
also."1 

That  life  into  which  we  enter  after  death  is  not  con- 
ceived by  a  Christian's  thought  in  the  terms  of  reincarna- 
tion and  transmigration.  For  him  there  is  no  painful 
wandering  through  the  vicissitudes  of  rebirth ;  no  labori- 
ous succession  of  lives  to  be  lived,  each  weighted  with  the 
arrears  and  obligations  of  an  incalculable  past.  For  he 
has  found  in  Christ,  who  loved  him  and  gave  Himself  up 
for  him,  the  absolution  and  remission  of  sins,  and  the 
perfect  and  peaceful  union  with  the  life  of  God.  For 
him,  therefore,  the  conception  of  immortality  is  a  vision 
of  peace  that  passeth  understanding ;  of  the  forgiveness 
and  putting  away  of  sin  through  the  mercy  and  Sacrifice 
of  God  Himself ;  of  the  liberation  of  the  soul  from  mortal 

i  John  14: 19. 


206  Barrows  Lectures 

infirmity  and  its  upbuilding  in  the  likeness  of  God's 
character ;  of  everlasting  increase  of  knowledge,  unend- 
ing growth  of  serviceable  power,  sublime  companionship 
of  like-minded  souls,  eternal  intimacy  with  the  God  of 
love. 

To  Christian  experience  the  value  of  this  belief,  as 
adding  to  the  worth  of  existence,  is  inestimable.  It 
clothes  with  importance  the  life  that  now  is,  making 
it  essentially  one  with  eternity.  The  arbitrary  division 
introduced  by  physical  death  is  obliterated,  and  one 
treads  the  world  and  takes  up  the  duties  of  time  as 
seeing  Him  who  is  invisible,  as  feeling  the  power  of  an 
endless  life.  The  incongruity  and  vanity  of  sin  are  dis- 
closed by  the  light  of  this  larger  thought,  and  the  eternal 
worth  of  each  word  and  act  of  purity  and  love  and  sacri- 
fice. The  dignity  of  conduct  is  augmented ;  the  brevity 
of  the  earthly  span  is  more  than  overbalanced  by  the 
eternal  significance  of  all  lofty  and  unselfish  effort.  It 
becomes  worth  while  to  plan  one's  life  carefully  and  to 
live  it  nobly.  It  might  be  said  of  many  who  have  real- 
ised this  truth  and  have  lived  in  the  light  of  it : 

They  dreamt  not  of  a  perishable  home 

Who  thus  could  build. 

■ 

"For  we  know  that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our  taber- 
nacle were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  an  house 
not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."1  And  if 
this  be  the  inspiration  for  our  present  state,  the  outlook 
thus  opened  into  the  future  is  not  less  inspiring.  For, 
amidst  the  transitions  and  uncertainties  of  this  world, 
where  life  is  often  as  the  moving  tent,  we  look  not  for  a 
weary  round  of  rebirths,  wandering  like  homeless  birds 

12  Cor.  5:1. 


Ideas  of  Holiness  and  Immortality  207 

upon  the  ocean's  breast,  over  the  tumultuous  and  inhos-  .  > 
pitable  billows  of  existence ;  we  look  for  a  City  that  hath  r~ 
foundations,  whose  Builder  and  Maker  is  God : 

Where  light  and  life  and  joy  and  peace 

In  undivided  empire  reign, 
And  thronging  angels  never  cease 

Their  deathless  strain  ; 

Where  saints  are  clothed  in  spotless  white 

And  evening  shadows  never  fall ; 
Where  Thou,  Eternal  Light  of  Light, 

Art  Lord  of  all!1 

IGODFEEY  THEING. 


SIXTH  LECTURE 

REASONS  FOR  REGARDING  CHRISTIANITY  AS  THE 
ABSOLUTE  RELIGION 

In  entering  upon  the  final  lecture  of  this  course  I  do 
not  feel  constrained  to  offer  an  apology  for  the  theme 
herein  proposed.  I  confide  in  the  open-mindedness  of  the 
East  not  only  to  tolerate,  but  to  consider,  the  presenta- 
tion of  Reasons  for  Regarding  Christianity  as  the  Ab- 
solute Religion.  This  confidence,  in  which  I  permit 
myself  to  indulge,  and  by  which  I  am  dissuaded  from 
offering  an  apology  for  my  subject,  is  founded  on  convic- 
tions of  the  propriety  of  my  motives  in  introducing  this 
subject,  and  of  the  fairness  and  profitableness  of  a  broad 
discussion  of  such  a  theme  by  educated  men,  whatever 
may  be  their  private  religious  opinions.  I  know  that  I 
have  not  undertaken  this  lectureship  in  a  controversial 
spirit.  In  nothing,  thus  far,  that  has  been  said  has  there 
entered  one  conscious  impulse  to  disparage  the  beliefs  of 
others  or  to  "dispute  about  words  to  no  profit."  Nor 
have  I  for  a  moment  held  the  attitude  of  aggression,  as 
one  who,  coming  from  the  West,  would  impose  the 
opinions  of  his  own  sect  on  men  of  another  tradition 
and  another  training.  Mine  has  been  the  ardour  of  a 
witness-bearer,  speaking  with  joy  and  love  the  things  that 
he  has  seen  and  heard;  mine  the  zeal  of  a  truth-seeker, 
courting  the  fellowship  and  counsel  of  those  who,  by  other 
paths,  are  seeking  the  things  that  are  above;  mine  the 
earnestness  of  a  believer  in  the  essential  brotherhood  of 
men  and  the  universal  reality  of  truth. 

I  am  convinced  also  of  the  fairness  and  profitableness 

208 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  209 

of  a  broad  discussion  of  this  theme  by  educated  men, 
whatever  may  be  their  private  religious  opinions.  Even 
if  the  result  of  such  a  discussion  were  adverse  to  my  own 
hopes  and  expectations,  still  should  I  rejoice  in  its  occur- 
rence. For,  as  one  desiring  only  the  advancement  of 
truth  for  the  good  of  the  world,  I  long  not  for  the 
triumph  of  any  set  of  opinions  because  they  are  my 
opinions,  but  only  that  whatsoever  is  the  absolute  and 
perfect  truth  may  have  free  course  and  be  glorified,  unto 
the  liberation  and  uplifting  of  the  whole  world. 

I  propose  therefore  to  offer  reasons  for  regarding 
Christianity  as  the  absolute  religion.  And  I  do  so  as 
presenting  a  legitimate  religious  question  for  discussion, 
assured  that  my  auditors  will  accord  me  the  privilege  of 
saying  what  I  have  to  say  upon  it.  Where,  indeed,  could 
this  question  be  discussed  with  such  propriety  and  with 
such  seriousness  as  in  the  ancient  and  religious  East,  the 
breeding-ground  and  home  of  all  the  greatest  religious 
conceptions  that  have  entered  into  the  history  and  ex- 
perience of  the  world?  Repeatedly  have  I  referred,  in 
these  lectures,  to  the  progressive  spirit  of  some  of  the 
Indian  newspapers  regarding  religious  inquiry,  and  it  is 
with  pleasure  that  I  quote  the  following  words  from  a 
recent  issue  of  the  Hindu  of  Madras  (July  19,  1902): 
"The  teachers  of  the  greatest  religious  opinions  of  the 
world  are  all  of  Asiatic  origin,  and  in  Asia  religion  is  a 
more  vital  force  than  it  is  today  either  in  America  or  in 
Europe."  In  an  atmosphere  so  favourable  to  the  discus- 
sion of  religious  problems,  such  a  theme  as  that  which  I 
have  the  honour  to  propose  is  not  only  legitimate,  but 
appropriate.  One  can  conceive  of  circumstances  where 
such  a  theme  as  mine  could  be  proposed  offensively  and 
repudiated  bitterly ;  but  among  educated  and  philanthropic 


210  Barrows  Lectures 

men  this  discussion  must  by  its  own  intellectual  buoyancy 
rise  above  the  low  level  of  controversy  and  recrimination, 
and  proceed  in  the  region  of  rational  investigation.  If  I 
offer  reasons  for  regarding  Christianity  as  the  absolute 
religion,  in  so  doing  I  invite  a  rational  investigation  of 
those  reasons  by  men  of  learning  and  experience ;  not  in 
the  spirit  of  bigotry,  but  in  the  liberal  spirit  of  brother- 
hood, as  befitting  those  who  have  a  common  solicitude  for 
the  well-being  of  the  world. 

For  it  is  an  axiom  among  all  who  are  interested  in 
human  well-being  to  desire  the  best  and  the  most  avail- 
able things,  and  to  appropriate  them  without  regard  to 
the  fact  that  they  may  be  in  use  among  those  with  whom 
we  are  not  in  sympathy.  This  is  true  in  the  realm  of 
mechanical  invention.  Printing-presses,  agricultural  im- 
plements, locomotive  machinery  for  land  or  sea,  electrical 
appliances,  know  no  political  or  racial  boundaries ;  they 
belong  to  the  world,  and  the  most  far-seeing  men  in  every 
nation  demand  the  best  machines  for  transacting  the 
business  of  life,  quite  without  regard  to  the  place  of  their 
origin  or  the  people  by  whom  already  they  may  be  used. 
This  is  becoming  more  and  more  true  in  the  realm  of  edu- 
cational science.  The  methods  of  the  School,  the  Col- 
lege, the  University,  no  longer  are  matters  of  local  tradi- 
tion, but  subjects  of  international  discussion,  comparison, 
and  procedure.  In  the  world-wide  republic  of  letters 
there  is  no  East  nor  West;  no  Europe,  Asia,  nor  America; 
but  the  one  brotherhood  and  guild  of  the  students  of  edu- 
cation, eager  to  consider  any  method  that  is  working 
successfully  in  any  part  of  the  world;  ambitious,  not  to 
perpetuate  ancestral  practices,  but  to  adopt  and  assimilate 
whatsoever  makes  for  pedagogical  efficiency.  As  I  con- 
sider   the    evolutionary  process   which    appears   in   the 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  211 

religious  development  of  mankind,  I  can  see  no  reason 
why  the  same  principle  which  governs  the  mechanical  and 
educational  life  of  the  race  should  not  also  prevail  in  the 
realm  of  religion.  It  is  unquestionable  that  an  evolu- 
tionary process  is  at  work  in  the  religious  development  of 
mankind.  Forces  that  were  not  generated  by  any  con- 
scious human  agent,  and  that  cannot  successfully  be 
resisted  by  any  measure  of  conservatism,  are  working  in 
the  world,  introducing  new  quantities  and  new  terms  into 
the  problem  of  religion.  May  I  illustrate  this  statement 
by  calling  attention  to  two  particulars:  the  growth  of 
tolerance,  and  the  advance  in  the  study  of  comparative 
religion  ? 

The  growth  of  tolerance  is  realised  by  looking  back- 
ward upon  the  course  of  history  and  considering  the  de- 
crease of  wars  and  persecutions  undertaken  in  the  name 
of  religion.  The  earlier  annals  of  the  religions  of  the 
world  are  for  the  most  part  written  in  blood — the  blood 
of  conquest,  or  the  blood  of  persecution,  torture,  and 
martyrdom.  Through  long  ages  of  history  men  of  dif- 
ferent faiths  regarded  one  another  as  natural  foes,  to  be 
subdued  or  to  be  exterminated.  The  obligation  to  smite 
with  the  sword  in  the  name  of  religion,  to  coerce  the  sub- 
mission of  faith  by  force  of  arms  or  by  the  infliction  of 
physical  anguish  upon  individuals,  belongs  to  the  history 
of  East  and  West  alike;  and  nothing  is  more  ghastly  in 
the  record  of  religious  oppression  than  some  passages  of 
Christian  history  upon  the  continent  of  Europe.  It  is  by 
recalling  these  facts  that  we  realise  the  growth  of  toler- 
ance. I  do  not  say  that,  upon  sufficient  provocation, 
wars  of  religion  might  not  again  break  out,  nor  do  I 
forget  that,  from  time  to  time  in  various  parts  of  the 
world,  fanatical  murders  are  committed.     But  it  is  quite 


212  Barrows  Lectures 

certain  that  these  sporadic  instances  of  religious  violence 
are  condemned  as  abnormal  by  all  enlightened  communi- 
ties, and  that  the  world  has  been  carried  upon  the  breast 
of  a  resistless  current  of  tendency  far  past  the  time  when 
the  conquest  or  extermination  of  a  people  because  of  its 
religious  opinions  could  seriously  be  entertained  by  any 
responsible  government  or  permitted  by  the  world- 
powers.1 

The  evolutionary  process  at  work  in  the  religious  de- 
velopment of  mankind  is  illustrated  also  by  advance  in 
the  study  of  comparative  religion.  Intolerance  and  igno- 
rance are  kindred  spirits.  The  ferocity  of  antagonism 
toward  the  faith  of  another  often  is  measured  by  igno- 
rance of  the  content  of  that  faith.  The  gulf  that  for 
centuries  separated  the  West  from  the  East  was  the  lack 
of  mutuality  in  the  study  of  religions.  I  am  bound  to 
say  that  the  philosophic  East  had  in  a  measure  explored 
Christianity  long  before  the  West  undertook  the  study  of 
the  great  non-Christian  beliefs  of  the  Orient.  For  long 
there  was  a  Western  intolerance,  born  of  ignorant  satis- 
faction with  the  local  adaptations  of  a  Europeanised  Chris- 
tianity, that  viewed  the  mighty  East  from  afar  as  an 
indistinguishable  heathendom,  an  arid  plain  of  godless 
superstition.  But  from  all  circles  of  culture  that  veil 
of  ignorance  is  passing  away ;  and  in  every  seat  of  learn- 
ing where  a  world-wide  interest  in  the  humanities  exists, 
the  study  of  comparative  religion  is  considered  to  be  fun- 
damental, upon  historical,  philosophical,  theological,  and 
social  grounds.  Instead  of  bald  ignorance  of  the  path 
pursued  by  all  the  world's  seekers  after  God  except 
those  of  one's  own  household,  in  place  of  the  daring 
dogmatism  that  could  denounce  as  wholly  false  and 
unprofitable    the    attempts    of    generations    of   sages    to 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  213 

deal  with  the  problems  of  being  and  to  construct  a  phil- 
osophy of  life,  there  is  deepening  every  day,  in  East  and 
West,  the  desire  to  understand  and  to  compare  the  fruits 
of  our  brother's  thinking,  the  grounds  of  our  brother's 
faith. 

It  may  be  argued  that  both  of  these  illustrations  of 
the  evolutionary  process  at  work  in  the  religious  develop- 
ment of  mankind  point  to  a  general  decline  in  intensity 
of  conviction  and  to  the  growth  of  a  religious  indifferent- 
ism  to  which  all  faiths  appear  alike  and  by  which  the  old 
urgency  of  conscience  in  matters  of  belief  is  discarded. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  passing  away  of  religious  wars 
means  that  nations  no  longer  attach  sufficient  importance 
to  theological  opinions  to  make  them  causes  of  armed 
conflict.  It  may  be  contended  that  the  study  of  compara- 
tive religion  has  revealed  such  a  measure  of  truth  in  the 
faiths  of  others  as  to  undermine  the  reasonableness  of  be- 
lieving that  there  is  one  faith  which  is  above  every  faith, 
one  Divine  Name  which  is  above  every  name  given  under 
heaven  among  men. 

But  not  so  do  I  interpret  that  evolutionary  process 
which,  like  the  silent  omnipotence  of  the  ocean  tide,  "too 
full  for  sound  or  foam,"  is  affecting  the  religious  devel- 
opment of  the  more  enlightened  races  of  East  and  West. 
I  grant  that  decline  in  intensity  of  conviction  is  taking 
place  in  some  quarters,  and  that  there  are  large  circles 
of  culture  whose  confidence  in  their  own  inherited  reli- 
gious traditions  has  been  shaken  by  influences  of  science 
and  cosmopolitanism,  and  whose  minds  have  not  yet  found 
a  system  of  truth  sufficiently  absolute  to  demand  their 
allegiance;  but  these  facts  are  not  adequate  to  interpret 
that  universal  evolution  of  religious  opinion  now  in 
progress,  of   which  all  open    minds  and    honest    hearts 


214  Barrows  Lectures 

must  be  conscious.  For  I  believe  that  never  in  the 
world's  history  was  there  a  more  settled  conviction  of  the 
value  of  religion  as  a  creative,  developing,  and  protective 
force;  never  a  more  pronounced  unanimity  of  opinion 
that  religion — that  which  binds  human  life  to  God,  that 
which  makes  God's  power  felt  in  human  affairs — is  for 
the  efficiency  and  exaltation  of  nations  and  of  men. 

Furthermore,  speaking  as  one  more  familiar  with  the 
prevailing  forms  of  religion  in  Europe  and  in  America,  I 
believe  that  never  in  the  history  of  the  West  was  there  a 
more  firm  conviction  of  the  essential  truth  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  The  firmness  of  that  conviction  arises 
from  its  intellectual  validity.  It  is  not  the  blind  credulity 
of  ignorance;  it  is  the  chastened  certitude  of  intelligence. 
Knowledge  is  at  its  high-water  mark;  science  is  enthroned 
and  sceptred  in  the  West.  Historical  and  literary  critics, 
sustained  by  conscious  integrity  of  purpose,  have  endured 
the  disfavour  of  those  who  deprecated  the  scientific  inves- 
tigation of  the  foundations  of  belief,  and,  by  impartial 
research,  have  disclosed  the  impregnable  solidity  of 
those  foundations.  Today  educated  men  of  the  West 
hold  the  faith  of  Christ,  not  as  a  fragile  treasure  that 
must  be  guarded  from  the  rude  onslaughts  of  unbelief, 
but  as  a  fortress  built  upon  the  eternal  rock,  against 
which  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail.  To  minds  so 
persuaded  the  present  religious  evolution,  marked  by  the 
growth  of  tolerance  and  the  larger  appreciation  of  the 
beliefs  of  others,  portends  something  far  different  from  a 
decline  of  conviction  and  a  growth  of  indifferentism.  It 
portends,  rather,  the  growing  assurance  that  in  many 
thinars  the  seekers  after  God  are  nearer  one  another  than 
they  had  known,  and  that  in  order  to  the  proper  treat- 
ment of  the  religious  problem  there  must  be  a  larger  syn- 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  215 

thesis;  a  gathering  together  of  those  who  have  dwelt 
apart;  a  more  generous  confidence  in  one  another  on  the 
part  of  all  who  are  athirst  for  God;  an  attempt  to  grasp 
and  to  interpret  the  conception  of  an  Absolute  Religion. 
Evidently  the  first  step  toward  that  larger  synthesis 
would  be  to  agree  upon  the  sense  in  which  the  word 
"absolute"  may  stand  as  the  qualifying  term  of  a  religion. 
In  presenting  reasons  for  regarding  Christianity  as  the 
absolute  religion,  my  first  solicitude  is  so  to  define  that 
qualifying  term  as  to  avert  misapprehension.  The  asso- 
ciation of  the  term  "absolute"  with  the  extreme  type  of 
monarchical  government  suggests  mental  images  wholly 
incongruous  with  my  present  theme.  An  absolute  mon- 
archy and  an  absolute  religion  are  not  by  any  possibility 
members  of  the  same  series  of  ideas.  Their  respective 
connotations  are  wholly  different.  The  term  "absolute," 
used  to  describe  monarchy,  stands  for  autocratic  power, 
irresponsible  authority,  despotism.  While,  in  the  history 
of  governments,  an  absolute  monarch  has  from  time  to 
time  used  a  form  of  religion  as  a  channel  and  instrument 
of  authority,  attempting  by  the  exercise  of  power  to  bind 
the  conscience  and  coerce  the  spiritual  subjection  of  men, 
every  such  association  of  absolutism  with  religious  con- 
trol is  abhorrent  to  my  sense  of  right  and  to  my  intel- 
lectual conviction  of  the  inherently  free  and  voluntary 
character  of  true  religion.  When,  therefore,  in  this  lec- 
ture I  employ  the  term  "absolute  religion,"  I  disclaim 
all  mental  association  with  ideas  of  civil  government, 
state  authority,  legal  control,  enforced  submission  of 
conscience.  I  approach  the  term  from  quite  another 
point  of  view,  and  find  it  available  for  my  purpose  as  a 
term  of  convenience,  indicating  the  opposite  of  whatever 
is  implied  in  the  words  "provisional,"  "local,"  "tempo- 


216  Barrows  Lectures 

rary,"  and  "  approximate^"  considered  as  words  descrip- 
tive of  the  various  religions  of  mankind. 

We  can  conceive  of  a  religion  that  might  answer  to 
the  descriptive  term  "provisional,''  in  that  it  was  consti- 
tuted for  a  specific  function  arising  out  of  an  emergency. 
Its  range  of  vision  was  scaled  down  to  the  end  it  was 
designed  to  subserve ;  its  ordinances  and  ceremonial  were 
in  their  nature  a  concession  to  the  limitations  created  by 
the  existing  emergency.  While  that  state  of  emergency 
lasted,  the  provisional  religion,  like  a  provisional  govern- 
ment, would  be  adequate;  but,  the  restrictions  produced 
by  the  emergency  being  removed,  that  religion  forthwith 
and  by  force  of  circumstances  becomes  inoperative  and 
obsolete,  giving  place  to  one  which,  if  it  be  final  and 
adequate  in  all  other  necessary  relations,  may  be  called 
"absolute." 

We  can  conceive  of  a  religion  as  "local" — a  tribal 
or  national  cult,  springing  from  the  soil,  endeared  by 
neighborhood  sentiment,  meeting  the  needs  of  those 
living  within  the  tribal  or  national  limits,  yet  lacking  the 
note  of  universality;  incompatible  with  the  tradition  and 
experience  of  a  remote  district;  incapable  of  meeting 
needs  created  by  other  environments.  If  there  should 
emerge  a  faith  that  seemed  to  appeal  to  all  human  life  at 
the  levels  that  lie  beneath  tribal  and  national  distinctions; 
a  faith  that  met  the  needs  of  the  most  remote  and  unre- 
lated communities;  that  might  be  translated  into  the 
multitudinous  tongues  of  the  earth,  yet  ever  utter  itself  in 
the  one  great  vernacular  of  the  soil — to  such  a  religion 
one  might  give  the  title  "absolute." 

We  can  conceive  of  a  religion  as  "temporary" — ful- 
filling an  honoured  mission  at  a  certain  stage  in  the  evo- 
lution of  society,  speaking  with  voices  of  consolation  and 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  217 

admonition  to  man  in  certain  phases  of  his  development; 
and  then  in  some  of  its  elements  outgrown;  not  dis- 
credited or  disproved,  but  left  behind  by  the  progress  of 
humanity;  submerged  by  the  rising  tides  of  knowledge; 
superseded,  as,  in  the  days  of  old,  Christ  superseded 
John  the  Baptist,  not  by  discrediting  him,  not  by  setting 
him  aside,  but  by  bringing  in  a  larger  truth  that  men  had 
need  of,  a  clearer  light  for  which  they  prayed.  That 
which  thus  should  come  in  to  feed  the  growing  power  of 
an  advancing  race  might  bear  the  title  "absolute." 

We  can  conceive  of  a  religion  as  "approximate" — as 
the  light  of  the  breaking  dawn,  the  portent  and  pledge  of 
the  full  sunrise,  the  splendid  forerunner  of  complete 
Revelation.  Gloriously  may  it  discharge  its  functions, 
with  its  seers  and  its  saints  hailing  the  perfect  vision 
from  afar,  and  confirming  the  faith  of  their  generations 
with  precept  and  prophecy.  At  last  comes  the  full 
unfolding  of  the  Divine,  the  Light  that  lighteth  every 
man,  coming  into  the  world.  In  its  ample  glory  the 
partial  and  the  approximate  are  taken  up,  purged  and 
assimilated  into  the  perfect  body  of  Truth,  the  fullness  of 
Him  that  filleth  all  in  all. 

By  these  differentiations  of  the  term  "absolute"  in  its 
association  with  religion  we  come  at  the  important  thought 
that  the  most  distinctive  note  of  the  absolute  religion 
would  be  universality;  in  relations  so  broad  and  compre- 
hensive that  even  to  consider  the  theoretical  possibility  of 
such  a  beneficent  gift  to  mankind  is,  for  all  true  lovers  of 
their  race,  like  standing  on  some  great  headland  of  the 
mountains  and  beholding  a  serene  landscape  with  all  the 
wealth  of  the  earth  bathed  in  all  the  splendours  of  heaven. 
For  the  universality  of  the  absolute  religion  would  be 
more  and  higher  than    mere   numerical    extension.      A 


218  Barrows  Lectures 

religion  might  extend  until  its  worshippers  were  as 
numerous  as  mankind  and  yet  lack  the  essential  note  of 
universality.  The  universality  of  the  absolute  religion 
shall  not  be  measured  by  the  misleading  standard  of  mil- 
lions of  converts,  but  by  its  intrinsic  capacity  to  meet  the 
needs  of  man.  Its  universality  shall  obtain  in  other 
categories  than  those  of  mere  numerical  strength,  even  in 
its  conception  of  God,  its  relation  to  time  and  place,  its 
social  ideal,  and  its  concurrence  with  reality. 

In  the  absolute  religion  the  conception  of  God  must 
contain  the  note  of  universality.  No  tribal  or  national 
deity  or  group  of  deities  will  suffice,  but  one  who  in  Him- 
self is  ultimate,  infinite,  timeless;  the  high  and  holy  One 
that  inhabiteth  eternity ;  having  the  qualities  of  Person- 
ality that  He  may  know  and  be  known;  in  whom  and  by 
whom  are  all  things;  unto  whom  all  hearts  are  open,  all 
desires  known ;  from  whom  no  secrets  are  hid ;  under  the 
sway  of  whose  authority  all  worlds  subsist;  in  the  pres- 
ence of  whose  "far-beaming  blaze  of  majesty"  all  men 
are  equal ;  to  the  all-embracing  tenderness  of  whose  heart 
all  lives  are  dear ;  in  the  secret  of  whose  purpose  is  the 
eternal  volition  of  love  that  all  men  shall  be  saved  and 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

In  the  absolute  religion  the  relation  to  time  and  place 
must  be  universal.  In  the  evolution  of  the  religious  con- 
sciousness of  the  race  doubtless  there  is  need  of  pro- 
visional forms  of  faith  that  arise  to  meet  emergencies,  and 
of  local  or  neighborhood  cults  and  customs  that  spring 
out  of  the  soil,  endeared  by  the  power  of  association  and 
meaning  much  to  those  who  understand  them.  To  the 
end  of  time,  I  believe,  these  local  adaptations  will  in  some 
form  continue;  they  represent  a  psychological  necessity 
that  cannot  be  ignored.     But  the  absolute  religion,  while 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  219 

it  may  take  up  into  itself  and  assimilate  many  of  these, 
shall  in  its  essence  be  greater  than  they.  For  it  shall  be 
bound  neither  by  time  nor  by  place.  Its  truth  shall  not 
be  provisional  and  temporary,  but  part  and  parcel  of  the 
eternal  being  of  God,  and  co-enduring  with  Himself. 
Nor  shall  its  substance  be  of  exclusive  relevance  for  a 
segment  of  the  race,  a  gospel  for  the  East  or  a  gospel 
for  the  West;  but  it  shall  be  a  world-message,  addressed 
to  man  as  man,  and,  whether  stated  in  the  terms  of  the 
East  or  of  the  West,  losing  none  of  its  universality. 
Every  nation  and  kindred  and  people  and  tongue  shall 
claim  that  message  as  its  own;  every  soul  under  the 
heavens  shall  appropriate  it  as  a  birthright. 

In  the  absolute  religion  the  social  ideal  must  rise  to 
the  proportions  of  universality.  This  it  cannot  do  unless 
it  be  founded  on  a  conception  of  the  value  of  the  indi- 
vidual man  as  broad  as  humanity  itself.  For  in  the 
building  of  a  social  ideal  the  unit  of  construction  is,  in 
the  last  analysis,  not  the  state,  not  a  church,  not  a  class, 
not  even  the  family,  but  the  individual  life,  with  its  rights, 
its  worth,  and  its  destiny.  A  social  ideal  can  be  no  better 
than  its  estimate  of  the  worth  of  a  single  soul.  A  social 
ideal  that  makes  as  its  chief  end  the  protection  of  a  class 
at  the  expense  of  inferior  classes,  or  the  propagation  of  a 
system  by  sacrificing  the  weak  to  the  strong,  or  by  keep- 
ing down  the  many  that  the  few  may  rise,  whatever  it 
may  exhibit  of  the  glittering  attributes  of  power,  lacks 
the  first  credentials  of  universality.  The  absolute  religion 
must  honour  all  men  because  each  is  a  unique  expression 
of  the  Divine;  must  acknowledge  intrinsic  value,  and 
accord  personal  rights  in  connection  with  every  member 
of  the  race.  With  such  a  foundation  beneath  it,  its  social 
ideal  shall  rise  in  lines  of    beauty  exceeding  the  most 


220  Barrows  Lectures 

superb  of  your  own  architectural  masterpieces.  Its 
motive  shall  be  fraternal  love — the  desire  that  each  son 
of  man  shall  know  the  meaning  and  the  possibilities  of 
his  own  existence,  and  enjoy  a  fair  chance  to  compete  for 
a  share  of  the  common  good;  its  spirit  shall  be  compas- 
sionate, co-operative,  constructive;  its  aim  shall  be  the 
betterment  of  the  race  by  the  redemption  and  the  educa- 
tion of  the  individual. 

Finally,  the  universal  note  in  the  absolute  religion 
must  be  its  concurrence  with  reality.  Knowledge  is  a 
tide  more  resistless  than  the  sea ;  it  eats  away  the  substance 
of  dreams  and  delusions  as  waves  devour  sand  palaces 
built  upon  the  shores  by  children.  It  submerges  barriers 
set  up  against  it,  closes  over  them  and  passes  by  them,  as 
if  they  never  had  been.  It  tests  every  theory  and  every 
faith  of  man  with  pitiless  pressure,  and  only  that  can 
stand  in  its  swelling  current  which  has  deep  anchorage 
or  rock  foundation.  As  time  advances  the  momentum  of 
this  tide  waxes.  The  two  great  augmenting  forces  are 
the  historic  spirit  and  the  inductive  method  of  investiga- 
tion. Under  the  influence  of  these  forces  every  docu- 
ment, every  dogma,  is  challenged,  every  claim  of  religious 
authority  explored,  every  custom  traced  to  its  source. 
Venerable  antiquity,  traditional  holiness,  official  sanction, 
usage,  have  no  power  to  protect  any  faith  from  this  all- 
searching,  all-enfolding  tide  of  knowledge,  which,  with  an 
impartiality  that  seems  cruelty  at  first,  but  in  the  end 
reveals  itself  as  love,  judges  between  truth  and  errour,  spar- 
ing only  that  which  concurs  with  reality,  that  which  is 
part  and  parcel  of  the  one  self -consistent  truth. 

And  now,  whilst  we  have  before  our  minds  these  con- 
notations of  the  term  "absolute  religion,"  it  behoves  us 
to  ask  a  pertinent  question:  Can  there  be  conceived  the 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion         221 

existence  of  an  Absolute  Religion  in  the  world  as  we 
know  it  ?  If  there  be  reasons  inherent  in  the  constitution 
of  the  world  and  the  nature  of  man  forbidding  the  possi- 
bility of  a  religion  that  shall  have  sufficient  breadth  and 
scope  to  become  a  basis  for  the  religious  experience  of 
the  race,  then  my  present  discussion  is  purely  theoretical 
and  academical.  Without  doubt  such  prohibitive  reasons 
appear  to  exist.  The  great  religions  that  now  interest 
the  world  long  have  lived  apart  from  one  another,  sepa- 
rated by  physical  boundaries,  or  mutual  ignorance,  or 
ancestral  distrust.  As  of  old  it  was  written  of  the  two 
contiguous  districts  of  Palestine,  Judsea  and  Samaria, 
"the  Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the  Samaritans,"  so 
faiths  more  or  less  antagonistic  than  those  of  Jew  and 
Samaritan  have  ignored  or  hated  one  another,  as  if  their 
adherents  were  beings,  not  of  different  races  only,  but  of 
different  worlds,  having  no  thought  or  experience  in  com- 
mon, no  affinity  even  of  natural  instinct.  But  the  methods 
of  modern  thought  forbid  us  to  accept  the  proposition 
that  these  lines  of  cleavage  in  the  religious  history  of  the 
race  close  the  discussion  on  the  possibility  of  an  absolute 
religion ;  that,  because  they  exist  and  long  have  existed, 
therefore  must  they  ever  continue.  The  principle  of 
evolution  does  not  allow  us  to  dogmatise  on  this  or  any 
kindred  problem  of  the  future.  We  must  wait,  and 
ponder,  and  hope.  When,  by  a  strong  effort  of  intellect 
and  will,  we  break  from  the  beaten  tracks  of  custom  and 
prejudice,  and  climb  to  the  heights  of  vision  where  that 
which  is  can  be  seen  in  its  wholeness,  and  be  measured 
by  that  which  might  be  and  should  be,  there  appear  to  us 
certain  grave  and  beautiful  reasons  which  at  least  make  it 
possible  to  conceive  the  existence  of  an  absolute  religion 
in  the  world  as  we  know  it.     To  present  some  of  these 


222  Barrows  Lectures 

reasons  for  your  consideration  is  my  earnest  desire. 
While  you  may  reject  my  conclusions,  I  know  that  you 
will  at  least  hear  my  premises. 

The  existence  of  an  absolute  religion  becomes  con- 
ceivable for  those  who  believe,  as  I  most  profoundly 
believe,  the  essential  unity  of  the  human  race,  and  the 
possibility  of  a  true  union  of  hearts  and  a  mutual  compre- 
hension of  feelings  and  ideas,  between  those  who  by 
racial  ancestry,  by  language,  by  colour,  by  social  institu- 
tions, by  religious  traditions,  and  by  all  other  outward 
signs  of  difference  are  separated  as  widely  as  the  East  is 
from  the  West.  Lately  we  have  been  furnished,  not  by 
an  Oriental,  but  by  a  European,1  with  the  pessimistic 
phrase,  "the  mental  seclusion  of  India."  He  tells  us 
that  his  phrase  represents  the  result  of  thirty  years' 
observation  and  reflection;  that  Indians  and  Englishmen 
are  fenced  off  from  each  other  by  an  invisible,  impalpable, 
but  impassable,  wall,  which  is  not  difference  of  manners 
or  of  habits  or  of  modes  of  association,  but  is  a  deliberate 
seclusion  of  the  mind  with  jealous,  minute,  and  persistent 
care;  that  this  seclusion  of  the  mind  is  universal,  result- 
ing in  a  loneliness  which,  increased  by  the  discipline 
of  ages,  is  not  an  incident,  but  the  first  essential  of  char- 
acter. Against  this  dismal  doctrine  of  segregation  it  is 
no  surprise  to  hear  such  European  protests  as  that  which 
recently  has  been  given  in  an  Indian  magazine  by  the 
Bishop  of  Bombay.2  But  it  is  with  especial  joy  that  I 
note  the  rejection  of  the  doctrine  by  liberal  Indian  senti- 
ment. The  alleged  "mental  seclusion"  is  vigorously 
analysed,  and  the  conviction  is  announced  in  an  able  edi- 
torial,3 that  no  section  of  the  human  race  is  incapable  of 

1  Cf.  Meredith  Townsend,  Asia  and  Europe,  pp.  146-54. 

2  Cf.  East  and  West,  July,  1902,  pp.  906-14.  3  Cf.  The  Hindu,  July  22, 1902. 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  223 

fuller  intercourse  with  and  better  understanding  of  all 
other  sections;  "that  human  nature  everywhere  is  the 
same;"  and  that,  wherever  colour  prejudices  are  dispelled, 
there  is  no  difficulty  of  intercourse  and  nothing  mutually 
unknowable.  Such  a  contention  I  believe  to  be  in  accord 
with  the  fundamental  laws  and  facts  of  nature.  The 
"brotherhood  of  the  race"  is,  to  me,  not  a  cant  phrase, 
but  a  psychological  formula,  representing  the  fact  that  con- 
ditions all  human  life,  justifies  those  sentiments  of  uni- 
versal love  that  rise  in  hearts  emanicipated  from  preju- 
dice, interprets  those  fine  and  manly  affinities  that  make 
it  possible  for  men  trained  on  opposite  sides  of  the  globe, 
aliens  in  their  respective  types  of  culture  and  in  their 
forms  of  belief,  nevertheless  to  look  into  each  other's  eyes 
and  know  that  in  the  deepest  recesses  of  experience  and 
feeling  they  understand  one  another  and  are  one. 

The  existence  of  an  absolute  religion  becomes  still 
more  readily  conceivable  for  those  who,  believing  the 
essential  unity  of  the  race,  take  note  of  the  universality 
of  religious  sentiment.  As  hunger  and  thirst  and  the 
primary  forms  of  natural  affection  repeat  themselves 
throughout  the  world,  giving  an  involuntary  kinship  of 
physical  need  to  all  the  races,  so  is  there  a  kinship  of  a 
more  subtle  kind,  founded  in  the  attributes  and  actions 
of  that  in  man  which  we  call  his  religious  nature.  The 
presence  of  spiritual  ideas  in  human  personality  is  uni- 
versal, be  they  the  vague  perceptions  of  the  basest  sav- 
agery, or  the  myths  and  customs  of  a  semi-barbaric  state, 
or  the  highly  organised  religious  systems  of  civilised 
races.  The  witness  to  the  religious  element  as  a  necessary 
part  of  the  constitution  of  humanity  is  consistent  and  con- 
vincing. "Religion,"  says  Principal  Fairbairn,  "is  so 
essential  to  man  that  he  cannot  escape  from  it.    It  besets 


224  Barrows  Lectures 

him,  penetrates,  holds  him  even  against  his  will.  The 
proof  of  its  necessity  is  the  spontaneity  of  its  existence. 
It  comes  into  being  without  any  man  willing  it,  or  any 
man  making  it;  and,  as  it  began,  so  it  continues.  Few 
men  could  give  a  reason  for  their  belief,  and  the  curious 
thing  is  that  when  it  is  attempted,  the  reasons  are,  as  a 
rule,  less  rational  than  the  beliefs  themselves."1  It  is 
when  we  permit  the  mind  to  dwell  upon  a  thought  like 
this  that  there  comes  to  remembrance,  unbidden,  that  mas- 
terful saying  of  St.  Paul,  spoken  in  Greece  almost  twenty 
centuries  ago,  but  true  today  on  the  banks  of  the  Missis- 
sippi or  the  banks  of  the  Ganges:  "God  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the  times  before  appointed, 
and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation,  that  they  should  seek 
the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  Him  and  find 
him,  though  He  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us."2  As  I 
reflect  that  everywhere  my  fellow-beings  are  sharing  with 
me  the  impulses  that  suggest  God  and  prayer  and  duty,  I 
find  myself  asking:  Why  should  it  be  incredible  that  He 
who  implanted  these  universal  impulses  shall  at  length, 
in  the  fullness  of  time,  answer  them  and  satisfy  them  by 
the  revelation  of  an  absolute  religion  as  broad  in  its  scope 
as  the  religious  intuition  of  humanity  ? 

The  existence  of  an  absolute  religion  becomes  not  only 
conceivable,  but  desirable,  when  one  reflects  upon  the 
practical  situation  that  would  emerge  if  the  common  reason 
and  judgment  of  the  race  were,  through  the  evolution  of 
knowledge  and  through  the  immediate  influence  of  God, 
to  arrive  at  a  conviction  of  the  universal  validity  and  abso- 
luteness of  a  certain  set  of  religious  conceptions.  The 
thought  of  such  a  religious  consensus  on  the  part  of  long- 

i  The  Philosophy  of  the  Christian  Religion,  p.  196.  2  Acts  17 :  26,  27. 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion         225 

divided  nations  and  races  is  in  itself  so  startling  that  for 
a  time  the  mind  is  unable  to  assimilate  it  and  to  subject 
it  to  rational  analysis.  Time  and  usage  have  established 
the  several  great  religions  as  permanent  factors  in  the 
life  of  the  world.  Their  histories  bulk  as  the  major  part 
of  the  world's  history.  We  cannot  conceive  the  past 
development  of  the  race  except  in  the  terms  supplied  by 
the  growths  and  rivalries  of  its  religions.  The  antecedent 
assumption,  therefore,  is  that  what  so  long  has  endured 
must  continue  forever;  that  the  permanence  of  the  lines 
subdividing  the  religious  experience  of  the  race  is  a  fore- 
gone conclusion.  This  assumption  of  the  permanence  of 
long-established  conditions  is  one  of  the  most  deep-seated 
of  our  impressions.  Nothing  offers  a  more  stubborn 
resistance  to  the  law  of  evolution.  In  one  of  the  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  this  assumption  of  permanence  is 
well  voiced  by  a  pessimistic  philosopher,  who  is  supposed 
to  speak:  "The  thing  that  hath  been,  it  is  that  which 
shall  be;  and  that  which  is  done,  is  that  which  shall  be 
done;  and  there  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun."1  All 
of  which  perpetually  is  being  contradicted  by  the  prin- 
ciple known  as  evolution,  and  now  everywhere  recog- 
nised as  the  law  governing  earthly  affairs.  A  rational 
interpretation  of  life,  individual  and  collective,  can  be 
made  only  in  the  terms  of  progress;  fresh  recombination 
of  existing  elements  with  elimination  of  outworn  material ; 
continuous  unfolding  of  new  conditions,  with  emergence 
of  new  results.  The  familiar  maxim,  "History  repeats 
itself,"  has  been  discredited  by  the  principle  of  evolution; 
for  repetition  becomes  impossible  where  all  historical 
elements  are  in  the  evolutionary  flux.  Successive  events 
may  bear  resemblance,  yet  each  in  turn  is  new,  for  the 
conditions  that  produce  it  are  new. 

lEccl  1:9. 


226  Barrows  Lectures 

Taking  this  into  account,  and  remembering  likewise 
the  unprecedented  growth  of  knowledge,  of  scientific 
method,  of  cosmopolitan  spirit,  and  of  international  inter- 
course, it  becomes  possible  to  entertain  and  to  analyse  a 
proposition,  at  first  so  startling  as  to  appear  incredible. 
It  may  be  that  amidst  the  changes  now  in  process — 
changes  so  great  and  radical  that  the  most  daring 
eighteenth-century  social  prophet  could  not  have  her- 
alded them — the  greatest  change  of  all,  the  change  por- 
tended by  the  growth  of  tolerance  and  the  new  interest 
in  the  study  of  comparative  religion,  shall  be  the  com- 
mon advance  of  the  educated  world  toward  a  point  where, 
from  the  ancient  citadels  of  their  several  faiths,  open- 
minded  lovers  of  God  and  of  the  world's  betterment  shall 
see  a  common  truth,  shall  desire  a  common  experience, 
shall  come  and  stand  as  brothers  on  the  common  ground 
of  one  absolute  religion. 

As  our  mind  adjusts  itself  theoretically  to  such  an 
issue,  we  apprehend  its  reasonableness  and  its  blessedness. 
Such  a  consensus  and  convergence  upon  one  absolute  reli- 
gion would  cast  no  discredit  upon  earlier  and  less  univer- 
sal forms  of  faith.  It  would  not  require  us  to  revile  the 
beliefs  of  our  forefathers,  nor  to  impugn  their  intelli- 
gence or  their  sincerity.  A  man  when  he  is  full-grown 
puts  aside  many  things  which  meant  much  for  his  boy- 
hood; but  the  putting  aside  of  that  which,  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  life,  ceases  to  meet  our  present  need  involves  no 
dishonour  to  what,  having  done  its  work,  is  now,  rever- 
ently, laid  down.  Nor  would  convergence  upon  one 
absolute  religion  presuppose  uniformity  of  religious  ex- 
pression or  religious  practice — a  condition  as  little  to  be 
desired  as  to  be  anticipated.  It  would  mean  participation 
in  the  substance  of  common  truth,  with  local  adaptations 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  227 

of  that  common  possession  to  each  sharer  in  the  substance. 
The  individuality  of  nations,  the  sacred  heritage  of  na- 
tional spirit  and  custom,  in  no  wise  would  be  impaired  by 
the  prevalence  of  an  absolute  religion;  for  no  religion 
could  maintain  its  tenure  of  the  title  "absolute"  that 
lacked  that  universality  in  relation  to  time  and  place 
which  made  it  in  the  highest  and  holiest  sense  of  the 
phrase,  "all  things  to  all  men" — a  religion  wide  and 
all-embracing  as  the  world  itself. 

The  blessedness  of  such  an  advance  as  we  are  now  con- 
sidering is  as  great  as  its  reasonableness.  The  Spirit  of 
God,  we  must  believe,  has  moved  in  the  world  during  all 
the  painful  vicissitudes  of  its  history,  ever  seeking  the 
advancement  of  man,  and  working,  through  the  inspira- 
tion of  chosen  souls,  for  the  unifying  of  the  race  by  the 
power  of  the  truth.  The  obstacles  in  the  path  of  that 
unification  have  been  many.  Perhaps  the  greatest  have 
been  the  isolation  of  nations  and  the  absence  of  a  common 
ethical  standard.  The  nations  have  lived  apart,  walled  in 
by  the  battlements  of  prejudicial  ignorance,  or  meeting  in 
the  bitter  rivalries  of  war  As  we  look  back  upon  the 
Middle  Ages,  the  face  of  the  world  is  like  a  landscape  of 
fortified  peaks  separated  by  yawning  abysses.  The  intel- 
lectual Renaissance  had  not  come;  the  modern  social 
Renaissance  had  not  appeared;  the  fellowship  and  com- 
munity of  nations  was  an  unrealised  conception.  Hatred, 
misrepresentation,  astounding  absence  of  correct  knowl- 
edge distorted  and  retarded  the  growth  of  the  world.  Nor 
was  there  any  approach  to  a  common  ethical  standard. 
Ignorant  of  one  another's  religions,  denouncing  and  de- 
spising each  other  as  pagans  and  infidels,  men,  made  in 
the  image  of  one  God,  shunned  each  other  as  the  progeny 
of  devils,  and  fought  like  beasts  in  wars  of  extermination. 


228  Barrows  Lectures 

I  do  not  permit  myself  to  overestimate  our  present  de- 
gree of  emancipation  from  these  distressing  conditions, 
nor  to  indulge  the  pleasing  fiction  that  even  the  most  en- 
lightened nations  are  fully  purged  from  the  old  blindness 
and  bitterness.  I  fear  that  many  a  just  indictment  could 
be  drawn  against  the  ethics  and  the  politics  of  nations 
that  claim  high  rank  in  the  moral  scale.  But  this  I 
know,  that  the  One  God  is  moving  in  His  world,  and  that 
a  new  day  is  dawning  everywhere.  The  resistless  tide  of 
knowledge  is  doing  its  work,  and  what  that  work  is  time 
shall  show.  The  bonds  that  knit  nations  together  are 
strengthening.  The  points  of  contact  relating  remote 
centres  of  moral  power  are  multiplying  between  every 
sunrise  and  sunset;  tjie  cosmopolitan  spirit  is  in  the  air. 
What  blessedness  for  the  world  if,  even  as  I  speak,  the 
seekers  after  God  were  beginning  to  see  eye  to  eye,  to 
sheathe  the  swords  of  spiritual  conflict,  and  to  give  the 
energy,  once  spent  in  recrimination,  to  the  greatest  work 
that  open-minded  men  can  undertake — the  finding  of  one 
absolute  religion;  the  acknowledgment  of  one  absolute 
standard  of  righteousness,  the  union  of  hearts  in  the 
brotherhood  of  truth  and  in  the  comradeship  of  service: 
"One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism ;  One  God  and  Father 
of  all."1 

If  one  of  my  learned  auditors,  by  following  my  argu- 
ment thus  far,  should  be  prepared  to  admit  the  theoretical 
proposition  of  the  reasonableness  and  blessedness  of  an 
absolute  religion  as  a  means  for  the  unification  and  bet- 
terment of  the  world,  he  will  perceive  that  the  question 
which  immediately  presents  itself  is:  Does  any  existing 
religion  appear  to  combine  the  characteristics  required 
for  such  immense  service  to  humanity?     Religions   are 

lEph.  4:5,  6. 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  229 

not  produced  at  the  will  and  bidding  of  man.  They  are 
not  manufactured  to  meet  occasions.  They  are  produced 
by  incalculable  forces  working  in  incalculable  orbits;  and, 
in  so  far  as  they  partake  of  truth,  they  are  the  works  of 
God.  It  may  be  said  of  every  religion  containing  any 
measure  of  the  eternal  truth  that  its  beginning  is  mys- 
tery. Even  so  Christ  spoke  of  the  mystery  of  the  Divine 
Life  revealing  itself  in  the  finite  soul:  "The  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth ;  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof  but 
canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth ;  so  is 
every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 1  Hence,  if  we  were 
agreed  to  converge  upon  an  absolute  religion,  we  must 
first  seek  it  among  religions  that  exist.  For  we  have  no 
power  to  make  it  at  our  pleasure.  We  might  indeed  con- 
struct a  theological  system,  but  it  would  not  be  a  religion 
until  life  were  breathed  into  it;  and  who  can  give  life 
save  One,  the  Living  One,  which  is  and  which  was  and 
which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty?  Religions  are  begotten, 
not  made. 

Assuming,  then,  that  there  existed  among  educated 
and  philanthropic  men  in  the  several  leading  faiths  of 
the  world  a  desire  to  converge  upon  a  common  religious 
basis  and  to  work  together  for  the  redemption  of  humanity ; 
assuming,  further,  their  willingness  to  examine  impar- 
tially these  several  leading  faiths  with  the  view  of  ascer- 
taining which  of  them  combines  in  itself  the  requisite 
characteristics  for  a  service  of  such  stupendous  import  to 
our  race,  the  first  step  would  be  to  determine  what  char- 
acteristics are,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  essential.  And 
this  readily  may  be  done  when  we  reflect  upon  the  present 
state  of  the  world.  We  have  referred  to  the  growth  of 
the  cosmopolitan  spirit   and  the  prevalence  of  interna- 

1  John  3 :  8. 


230  Barrows  Lectures 

tional  intercourse.  The  isolation  of  nations  is,  relatively, 
a  thing  of  the  past.  But  this  does  not  imply  a  decline 
of  the  national  spirit.  On  the  contrary,  the  individuality 
of  nations,  though  emancipated  from  the  old  crudeness  of 
expression,  has  lost  nothing  in  intensity.  We  are  more 
jealous  of  our  traditions,  because  we  realise  how  easily 
those  traditions,  if  unguarded,  might  be  swept  away  in 
the  flood  of  cosmopolitanism.  We  are  cautious  about 
laying  ourselves  under  obligation  to  other  nations,  by 
adopting  their  institutions,  their  manners,  or  their  beliefs, 
lest  thereby  we  compromise  our  national  individuality 
and  barter  away  our  national  birthright.  Hence  the  first 
question  to  be  raised  in  determining  the  possible  uni- 
versality of  any  existing  religion  is  the  question  of  origin. 
The  history  of  twenty  centuries  proves  conclusively  that 
no  religion  can  attain  universality  by  force  of  arms. 
There  is  not  power  enough  in  any  section  of  the  world  to 
impose  its  beliefs  by  authority  upon  the  whole  world. 
And  the  most  superficial  acquaintance  with  present  con- 
ditions assures  us  that  the  West  never  will  abandon 
its  religion  in  favor  of  one  imported  from  the  Orient,  nor 
will  the  proud  and  thoughtful  East  ever  humble  herself 
to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  a  Western  cult. 

Near  to  the  question  of  origin,  and  with  difficulty 
separated  from  it,  is  the  question  of  philosophical  method 
as  affecting  the  possible  universality  of  any  existing 
religion.  Thinkableness  is  the  unseen  foundation  of  each 
religion,  and  the  psychological  reason  for  its  existence. 
A  given  religion  survives  in  the  experience  of  those  who 
practise  it  because  its  propositions,  however  vague  or  full 
of  mystery,  can  be  construed  in  intelligible  terms  of 
thought.  It  is  lifeless  in  another  community  because  its 
fundamental  propositions  are  unthinkable  in  the  terms  of 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  231 

thought  which  there  prevail.  Differences  of  philosophical 
method  are,  without  doubt,  the  highest  barriers  that 
divide  members  and  groups  of  the  human  race.  Colour 
lines,  variations  of  language,  geographical  or  political 
boundaries,  are  relatively  unimportant  barriers,  when 
compared  with  the  most  fundamental  distinctions  of 
philosophical  method.  The  author  of  the  phrase  "the 
mental  seclusion  of  India"  probably  realised  the  height 
of  this  barrier  as  standing  between  East  and  West,  and 
succumbed  to  the  belief  that  it  is  insurmountable.  With- 
out in  the  least  sharing  his  discouraging  opinion,  it  may  be 
granted  that  the  chief  progress  toward  the  union  of  hearts 
in  East  and  West  must  be  on  the  lines  of  philosophical 
method,  in  finding  a  common  basis  for  the  connotations 
of  the  terms  of  thought.  And  it  may  be  accepted  as  an 
axiom  that  no  religion  successfully  can  hold  the  title 
"absolute"  unless  its  major  propositions  are  broad 
enough  to  be  construed  in  the  terms  of  various  philo- 
sophical methods;  to  be  thinkable,  so  to  say,  in  more 
than  one  mental  language. 

Following  hard  upon  these  characteristics  comes  the 
vital  matter  of  moral  initiative.  The  educated  thought 
of  the  world  has  advanced  to  a  degree  that  precludes  the 
recognition  of  any  religion  as  of  universal  validity  unless 
it  possesses  intense  moral  initiative  for  society  and  for  the 
individual.  For,  as  we  have  shown  in  an  earlier  lecture,1 
"the  incoming  century  finds  many  thousands  of  souls, 
representing  all  the  greater  nations  and  the  greater  faiths 
of  East  and  West,  filled  with  the  conviction  that  the 
world  is  capable  of  being  made  better,  and  that  humanity 
has  the  right  to  be  redeemed;  that  sin  is  the  plague  that 
blasts  social  and  personal  life,  and   that  they  that  are 

1  See  Lecture  IV  on  "  The  Sin  of  Man  and  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ,"  p.  148. 


232  Barrows  Lectures 

strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  not 
to  please  themselves."  This  growing  conviction  cannot 
be  put  aside:  it  is  resolute,  intelligent,  serious.  It  would 
be  busy,  not  with  the  appeasing  of  gods,  but  with  the 
redeeming  of  men.  It  takes  interest  in  the  life  that  now 
is  and  in  the  lives  of  men  that  are  and  that  are  to  be.  It- 
is  looking  everywhere  for  something  that  has  moral 
initiative;  for  leverage  to  lift  men  and  nations  to  a 
higher  level  of  existence.  Unabashed,  it  calls  in  question 
its  own  ancestral  beliefs,  weighs  them  in  the  balance,  and, 
if  it  find  them  wanting,  throws  them  aside  and  experi- 
ments with  the  ethics  of  agnosticism  or  secularism.  The 
moral  initiative  of  the  absolute  religion  shall  not  be  pro- 
duced by  the  appeal  to  superstitious  dread ;  for  the  growth 
of  knowledge,  the  illumination  of  nature  by  the  light  of 
science,  is  dispelling  a  thousand  terrors  that  once  might 
be  invoked  in  the  name  of  religion.  Nor  can  it  proceed 
from  the  pessimistic  view  of  existence,  for  although  that 
may  prompt  to  deeds  of  charity  and  to  practices  of 
gentleness,  its  moral  force  is  weakened  by  every  ad- 
vance in  civilisation  that  reveals  the  worth  and  ex- 
cellence of  the  present  life  as  a  theatre  of  human  action. 
Nor  can  the  moral  initiative  be  supplied  by  fatalism,  the 
stern  creed  of  necessity;  for  the  trend  of  modern  culture 
is  toward  a  fuller  recognition  of  the  freedom  of  the 
human  will  and  its  controlling  influence  upon  life.  Moral 
initiative — which  is  power  to  grapple  with  evil  and  to  lay 
hold  of  good,  enthusiasm  for  righteousness,  hatred  of  sin, 
self-sacrificing  effort  to  redeem  others — presupposes  a 
deep  conviction  of  the  nature  of  sin  as  a  blight  upon 
existence,  an  offence  against  God.  Its  producing  causes 
are  a  high  view  of  the  holiness  of  God,  a  deep  sense  of 
the  value  of  man.     Given  a  religion  with  these  as  its 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion         233 

dominant  principles,  and  its  significance  as  a  moral 
dynamic  shall  appear  wherever  its  presence,  not  in  name 
but  in  reality,  extends. 

As  we  reflect  upon  the  requisite  characteristics  of  an 
absolute  religion,  one  is  suggested  to  us  by  the  prevailing 
temper  of  the  world  in  this  opening  century.  The  mental 
attitude  of  the  most  enlightened  communities,  at  the 
present  time,  is  that  of  expectancy.  The  principle  of 
evolution,  to  which  I  have  made  repeated  references,  has 
imparted  new  hopefulness  to  the  world.  The  world 
begins  to  realise  that  it  is  not  chained  to  a  dead  past,  but 
is  free  to  advance  in  a  living  present.  Action,  upon  all 
lines,  is  being  undertaken  with  pronounced  regard  for  the 
future.  Repugnance  to  change,  which  is  the  distinctive 
mark  of  unqualified  conservatism,  is  being  modified  even 
in  unlooked-for  quarters,  apparently  by  a  growing  belief 
in  the  possibility  of  better  things.  The  face  of  the 
thinking  world  looks  forward.  The  religion  in  which 
the  manifold  progressive  elements  in  this  forward-looking 
age  could  conceivably  find  a  common  basis  must  be  a 
religion  in  line  with  the  future ;  a  religion  of  hope ;  a 
religion  which  is  itself  an  evolutionary  force,  instinct 
with  life,  creative,  constructive,  expansive  ;  cherishing  its 
own  history,  yet  not  content  therewith  ;  forgetting,  in  the 
ardour  of  its  earnestness^  the  things  which  are  behind 
and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before. 

When,  with  these  four  characteristics  in  mind — 
suitability  of  origin,  breadth  of  philosophical  method, 
strength  of  moral  initiative,  and  hopefulness — I  search 
among  the  greater  faiths  of  mankind  for  one  that  might, 
if  men  desired  to  use  it,  be  available  for  the  vast  and 
beneficent  ends  of  an  absolute  religion,  I  look  not  alto- 
gether in  vain.     I  approach  the  religion  of  Christ  and 


234  Barrows  Lectures 

apply  to  it  the  tests  of  universality.  At  first  I  am  dis- 
couraged by  the  many  limitations  that  surround  it  and 
that  appear  to  disqualify  it  for  a  function  so  exalted. 
I  note  that  it  has  existed  upon  earth  for  almost  two 
thousand  years,  yet  has  by  no  means  demonstrated  its 
universality  in  terms  of  numerical  progression.  Certain 
non-Christian  faiths  are  more  extensive  numerically,  and 
their  collective  preponderance  is  overwhelming.  I  observe 
that,  up  to  this  time,  its  sphere  of  influence  has  been 
chiefly  among  nations  of  the  West ;  that  its  identification 
with  Western  institutions  and  manners  has  been  so  com- 
plete as  to  give  it,  in  the  eyes  of  many,  the  appearance  of 
a  Western  faith.  I  see  that  in  the  West,  where  its  prev- 
alence has  been  marked,  its  course  has  been  difficult  and 
tumultuous.  Controversy  has  beat  upon  it  like  a  storm 
against  the  wall ;  schism  has  wounded  it  at  many  points ; 
its  adherents  have  not  been  in  agreement  among  them- 
selves ;  its  foes  often  have  been  they  of  its  own  household. 
I  perceive,  further,  that  many  of  its  alleged  representa- 
tives have  discredited  its  fair  name  by  lives  that  violated 
its  precepts  and  set  at  nought  its  ideals  ;  and  that  govern- 
ments, professing  to  be  its  champions,  have  countenanced 
or  committed  deeds  incompatible  with  its  elementary 
tenets  of  justice,  mercy,  and  love. 

But  when  I  proceed  to  examine  these  limitations, 
I  find  that  they  are  external,  incidental,  and  no  part 
of  the  essence  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  They 
are  indeed  melancholy  and  hindering  accessories  which, 
by  the  frailty  or  vanity  of  man,  by  the  malignant  in- 
sistance  of  his  prejudices,  or  the  deficiency  of  his  knowl- 
edge, or  the  madness  of  his  ambition,  have  fastened  them- 
selves upon  the  religion  of  Christ  as  the  barnacles  upon 
the  ship,  retarding   its   progress.     But   the   lamentable 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  235 

accessories  are  no  more  of  the  substance  of  the  religion 
than  the  barnacles  are  of  the  substance  of  the  ship  that 
they  impede.  It  is,  therefore,  not  to  the  unhappy  limita- 
tions that  attest  man's  weakness,  but  to  the  uncorrupted 
essence  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  that  I  proceed  to 
apply  the  tests  of  universality :  suitability  of  origin, 
breadth  of  philosophical  method,  strength  of  moral  initia- 
tive, and  the  spirit  of  hopefulness. 

So  deep  and  sacred  is  the  national  spirit  in  communities 
of  enlightenment  and  culture,  so  final  the  refusal  to 
surrender  individuality  by  voluntary  submission  to  an 
alien  faith,  that  no  rational  discussion  of  the  present 
question  is  possible  until  the  suitability  of  origin  is 
established.  Already  in  this  lecture  I  have  said :  The 
West  never  will  abandon  its  religion  in  favour  of  one 
imported  from  the  Orient,  nor  will  the  proud  and  thought- 
ful East  ever  humble  herself  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy 
of  a  Western  cult.  Such  transfers  are  impossible  even 
were  they  desired ;  and  undesirable  even  were  they  not 
impracticable. 

No  humiliation  of  the  national  spirit,  in  any  quarter  of 
the  world,  would  occur,  should  there  be  an  intelligent 
movement  of  convergence  upon  the  religion  of  Christ  as 
the  common  basis  of  thought  and  effort  for  the  time  to 
come.  If  the  circumstances  attending  the  origin  of  any 
faith  could  prophesy  universality,  such  a  forecast  of 
destiny  appears  in  the  genesis  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  sprang  neither  from  the  ancient  and  powerful 
seats  of  oriental  empire,  nor  from  the  palaces  and  univer- 
sities of  Europe ;  but  from  Palestine,  a  land  whose 
political  individuality  long  before  had  been  obliterated, 
lying  midway  between  East  and  West,  the  highway  of 
nations,  the  cross-roads  of  the  world.     Its  historical  ante- 


236  Barrows  Lectures 

cedent  was  the  unique  community  of  Israel — a  people 
without  ethnic  relation  to  Europe  or  India ;  of  alien  stock ; 
incapable  of  affiliation  with  the  world ;  doomed  to  an 
earthly  immortality  of  disintegration  and  suffering;  "de- 
stroyed as  a  nation,  yet  indestructible  as  a  people;"  with- 
out political  or  military  influence,  yet  incomparable  in  moral 
and  spiritual  power.  Of  Israel,  according  to  the  flesh, 
Christ  came.  The  veil  of  mystery  enshrouded  His  Birth. 
The  courtyard  of  a  travellers'  rest  house  was  His  place  of 
nativity;  the  chances  of  a  traveller's  lot  were  the  portion 
of  His  manhood ;  the  bitterness  of  a  death  of  ignominy 
was  His  reward.  Yet  in  His  own  speech  and  self- 
consciousness,  in  the  assured  belief  of  His  disciples,  in 
the  august  tradition  that,  by  many  centuries,  preceded 
Him  and  foretold  His  coming,  was  the  persistent  note  of 
universality.  The  most  sacred  heirloom  of  Israel  was  the 
Abrahamic  promise,  "In  thee  shall  all  families  of 
the  earth  be  blessed."1  The  fundamental  duty  of  His 
ordained  messengers  was  to  ignore  national  distinctions 
and  preach  His  Gospel  to  the  whole  creation ;  the  point 
of  view  of  His  own  self-consciousness  was  that  of  the 
Light  of  the  world,  who,  if  He  should  be  lifted  up  from 
the  earth,  would  draw  all  men  unto  Himself.2  If  the 
commanding  influence  of  this  Christ  should  now  convince 
the  East,  it  would  be  but  an  extension  of  His  inscrutable 
triumph  who  already  has  spoken  the  word  of  His  peace  to 
barbarous  and  brutal  tribes  of  the  West,  transforming 
their  manners,  co-ordinating  their  undeveloped  powers, 
laying  in  their  midst  the  foundations  of  a  kingdom  that  is 
righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit.3  If 
the  aggressive  and  power-loving  West  has  found  it  blessed 

i  Cf.  Gen.  12 : 1-3 ;  18 :  18 ;  22 :  15-18.  2  John  12 :  32. 

3Eom.  14:17. 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion         237 

to  be  conquered  by  that  Warrior  without  a  sword,  to  be 
ruled  by  that  King  without  an  army,  the  convergence  of 
the  thoughtful  East  upon  the  religion  of  the  Nazarene 
would  involve,  in  like  manner,  no  slightest  surrender  of 
the  national  spirit. 

If  we  test  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  as  to  its  breadth 
of  philosophical  method,  its  thinkableness  in  the  terms  of 
more  than  one  intellectual  system,  the  evidence  to  that 
effect  is  found  to  be  both  internal  and  external.  It  is 
impressive  to  note  that  Christ  conceives  of  Himself  as 
the  Light  of  the  world.  He  speaks  of  His  Death  as  the 
giving  of  Himself  for  the  life  of  the  world.1  His 
teachings  contain  nothing  of  an  exclusive  or  sectarian 
character.  As  He  knows  Himself  to  be  the  manifested 
God,  He  also  knows  that  the  Spirit  of  God  shall  inter- 
pret and  reveal  Him  k>  the  understandings  and  hearts  of 
all  teachable  persons  the  world  over.2  There  is  no  reser- 
vation attached  to  His  promise:  "He  that  followeth  Me 
shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of 
life."3  And  so,  with  complete  assurance  of  the  thinkable- 
ness of  His  religion  in  the  terms  of  all  the  systems  of 
human  thought,  He  leaves  with  His  disciples  this  charge 
as  He  withdraws  His  Bodily  Presence:  "Ye  shall  be  wit- 
nesses unto  Me,  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth."4 
No  other  thought  concerning  His  relation  to  mankind 
appears  to  enter  His  mind  than  that  His  illuminating 
words  and  His  sacrificial  work  alike  are  for  the  use  and 
advantage  of  the  undivided  human  race.  That  those 
who  were  most  closely  associated  with  Him  in  the  days 
of  His  Flesh  and  best  understood  His  thought  thus  ap- 
prehended it,  appears  from  the  whole  range  of  the  Apos- 

1  Cf.  John  6 :  51.  2  Cf.  John  14 :  16, 17,  26 ;  15 :  26 ;  16 : 7-11. 

3  Cf.  John  8: 12.  *  Acts  1:8. 


238  Barrows  Lectures 

tolic  teaching.  They  conceived  their  message  to  be  so 
broad  that  it  could  be  translated  without  difficulty,  not 
into  the  vernaculars  of  the  lip  only,  but  into  the  vernacu- 
lars of  the  mind,  of  all  races.  For  Christ  Himself  was 
not,  in  their  thought,  ethnic,  but  universal ;  not  the  citizen 
of  a  local  state,  but  the  Incarnate  Representative  of  Hu- 
manity even  as  also  the  Incarnate  Manifestation  of  Deity. 
So  cries  St.  Paul:  "Men  of  every  nation  are  renewed  in 
His  image; — where  there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  cir- 
cumcision nor  un circumcision,  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond 
nor  free;  but  Christ  is  all  and  in  all."1  And  St.  John, 
beholding  in  vision  the  gathering  throng  of  those  who, 
trained  in  many  philosophical  methods,  have  found  Christ 
interpreting  Himself  in  the  terms  of  all,  declares:  "I 
beheld,  and  lo,  a  great  multitude  which  no  man  could 
number,  of  all  nations  and  kindreds  and  peoples  and 
tongues,  stood  before  [Him]  and  cried,  Salvation  to  our 
God  that  sitteth  upon  the  Throne."2  The  most  impressive 
experience  of  my  intellectual  life  has  been  the  discovery, 
during  these  three  years  of  humble  preparation  for  this 
Eastern  lectureship,  that  I,  a  Christian  of  the  West, 
scarcely  had  begun  to  realise  the  absolutely  world-wide 
scope  of  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  religion  of  Christ 
until  I  beheld  them  illuminated  by  Eastern  philosophy 
and  stated  in  terms  of  Oriental  thought.  Then  it 
dawned  upon  me  that  the  West  needs  the  East,  quite  as 
much  as  the  East  needs  the  West,  if  humanity  is  to 
measure  the  depth  and  height  and  breadth  and  length  of 
the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  reported,  in  one  of 
the  Old  Testament  chronicles,  that  the  Queen  of  Sheba, 
who  long  had  heard  of  the  magnificence  of  the  temple  of 
Solomon,  at  length  paid  a  visit  thereto.     Overpowered 

i  Col.  3:11.  2  Rev.  7:9. 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  239 

by  splendours  whose  realities  exceeded  anticipation,  she 
cried:  "Behold  the  half  was  not  told  me;  thy  wisdom  and 
prosperity  exceedeth  the  fame  which  I  heard." '  Even 
so  had  I,  a  Christian  of  the  West,  been  taught  to  believe 
that  in  Christ  are  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge, and  that  His  relation  to  the  world  so  involves  the 
very  substance  of  life  as  to  interpret  itself,  not  only  to 
the  conscience,  but  to  the  intellect  of  every  man.  But 
when,  leaving  the  familiar  intellectual  environment  of 
my  fathers,  I  sought  the  atmosphere  of  Eastern  culture, 
only  to  find  the  leading  conceptions  of  Christianity 
taking  on  there  a  new  wealth  of  meaning  that  came  to 
me  as  with  the  glory  of  a  fresh  revelation,  I  said  in  my 
joy:  Behold  the  half  was  not  told  me;  Thy  wisdom,  O 
Christ,  exceedeth  the  fame  which  I  heard! 

Suitability  of  origin  and  breadth  of  philosophical 
method  are  not  the  only  tests  of  universality  which  one 
must  apply  to  the  uncorrupted  essence  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ,  in  the  effort  to  ascertain  its  fitness  to  be 
the  absolute  religion.  Strength  of  moral  initiative  and 
hopefulness  must  be  there ;  or,  being  weighed  in  the  bal- 
ance, it  shall  be  found  wanting. 

Strength  of  moral  initiative,  power  to  make  men  better, 
is  the  distinctive  form  in  which  the  religion  of  Christ 
acts  as  a  force  in  human  life.  Every  religion  has  a 
reason  for  its  existence.  The  scope  of  that  reason  deter- 
mines in  each  case  the  sphere  of  influence  of  the  religion 
to  which  it  is  attached.  Ceremonialism  may  be  the 
reason  for  the  existence  of  a  religion.  It  may  continue 
to  live  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  up  certain  ceremonies 
handed  down  from  antiquity.  The  ceremonies  may  be 
worthy  of  maintenance,  but  the  possible  sphere  of  influ- 

1  C/.l  Kings  10:1-13. 


240  Barrows  Lectures 

ence  for  a  religion  that  exists  only  to  maintain  these 
ceremonies  cannot  extend  to  those  who  have  no  interest 
in  the  ceremonies  and  have  no  desire  for  their  mainte- 
nance. The  propitiation  of  gods  may  be  the  reason  for 
the  existence  of  a  religion.  Its  continuance  may  be  based 
on  the  theory  of  angry,  cruel,  or  tyrannical  deities,  who 
will  cause  pain  and  loss  unless  a  certain  tribute  is  paid  to 
them.  Fear,  the  dread  of  disaster,  the  belief  that  the 
world  is  haunted  by  dangerous  and  malign  spirits,  may 
serve  to  perpetuate  systems  of  worship  and  sacrifice,  in 
the  highest  degree  impressive.  Nevertheless,  the  sphere 
of  influence  open  to  such  religions  cannot  extend  to  those 
who  believe  in  one  God  only,  and  in  Him  as  the  most 
faithful,  most  loving,  most  self-sacrificing  of  Friends ;  who 
needs  not  to  be  propitiated,  inasmuch  as  He  Himself  has 
suffered  for  us  that  He  might  deliver  us  from  our  sins 
and  reconcile  us  unto  Himself.  Despair  may  be  the 
reason  for  the  existence  of  a  religion — despair  prompted 
by  the  inherent  misery  of  life.  Belief  in  God  may  van- 
ish ;  the  desire  to  live  may  perish ;  escape  from  the  wretch- 
edness of  finite  being  may  be  the  goal  of  effort;  and 
patient  endurance,  deeds  of  gentleness,  habits  of  purity, 
may  be  the  rule  of  conduct.  Nevertheless,  potent  as  such 
a  religion  is  among  those  who  can  live  without  God  and 
without  hope  in  the  world,  its  sphere  of  influence  never 
can  extend  to  regions  where  finite  existence  is  held  to  be 
a  boon  and  not  a  curse. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  finds  the  reason  for  its 
existence,  not  in  ceremonialism,  not  in  the  propitiation  of 
gods,  not  in  despair,  but  in  the  effort  to  make  man  better. 
It  rests  on  the  presumption  that  good,  not  evil,  is  the 
normal  lot  of  man;  that  love,  not  hatred,  is  the  temper  of 
the  heart  of  God ;  that  sin,  not  fate,  is  the  barrier  stand- 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion         241 

ing  between  man  and  happiness,  the  plague  whose  poison 
courses  through  the  world.  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ 
exists  through  its  strength  of  moral  initiative.  But 
for  this  it  would  have  perished  in  its  youth,  for  all  faiths 
conspired  to  crush  it  out.  But  it  was  indestructible;  not 
because  it  could  shelter  itself  behind  the  ramparts  of 
military  power;  not  because  it  appealed  to  the  fears  or 
the  lusts  of  mankind;  but  because,  by  the  Divine  purpose 
of  Him  who  gave  it  to  the  world,  it  contained  power 
which,  in  these  latter  days,  open-minded  men  of  all  faiths 
are  coming  to  realise  as  the  thing  most  needed  upon 
earth;  power  to  deal  with  the  plague  of  sin;  power  to 
purge  the  soul  of  its  corruption;  power  to  break  the 
shackles  of  corroding  habit;  power  to  awaken  sleeping 
impulses  of  good,  to  implant  new  affections,  to  bring  in  a 
new  order  of  moral  existence,  for  the  individual,  for  the 
family,  for  the  nation,  for  the  world. 

With  this  strength  of  moral  initiative  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ  joins  hopefulness,  which  is  the  fundamental 
condition  of  social  recovery  and  reform.  Ceremonialism 
and  the  appeal  to  fear  doubtless  have  their  place  in  the 
sum  of  influences  that  promote  the  moral  education  of  the 
race.  But,  unless  one  quite  misreads  such  signs  of  the 
times  as  the  growing  intercourse  of  nations,  the  spread  of 
knowledge,  the  advance  of  democracy,  and  the  revolt 
from  superstition,  the  age  is  coming  fast  when  the  co- 
operation of  all  educated  and  right-minded  men  for  the 
betterment  of  humanity  shall  prove  the  Divine  insight 
that  was  given  of  old  to  that  Christian  Apostle  who  said: 
"We  are  saved  by  hope."1  A  ceremonialism  that  be- 
comes an  end  in  itself,  existing  to  perpetuate  a  method 
of  antiquity ;  a  bitter  creed  of  fear  that  makes  of  one's 

1  Rom.  8:24. 


242  Barrows  Lectures 

mortal  life  a  weary  effort  to  avert  the  wrath  or  caprice  of 
gods;  a  doctrine  of  despair  that  turns  thought  inward, 
in  sad  refusal  to  believe  in  external  reality,  in  mute,  sub- 
missive separation  from  the  glorious  energies  that  gather 
volume  with  each  new  struggle  for  victory — these  are 
religions  that  have  won  immortal  distinction  in  history 
by  their  loyalty  to  the  past,  by  the  sincerity  of  their 
adherents  and  the  brilliancy  of  their  leaders,  by  their 
enormous  contributions  to  the  religious  development  of  the 
world.  But,  in  the  unfoldings  of  time,  and  with  the  ad- 
vent of  forces,  scientific  and  social,  that  have  opened  the 
world,  developed  its  resources,  augmented  its  knowledge, 
and  altered  its  point  of  view,  that  which  humanity  waits 
for  as  the  charter  of  redemption  is  a  religion  of  hope, 
a  religion  in  line  with  the  future,  a  religion  in  sympathy 
with  all  the  people,  a  religion  that  develops  individual 
character  and  educates  men  to  know  and  claim  and  ex- 
ercise their  God-given  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness.  And  of  such  a  spirit  is  the  religion 
of  the  eternal  Son  of  God.  Hopefulness  is  its  essence. 
In  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth  He  opened  His  lips  and 
spake,  whilst  men  wondered  at  the  gracious  words  that 
proceeded  out  of  his  mouth:  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God 
is  upon  Me,  because  He  hath  anointed  Me  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor,  He  hath  sent  Me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives  and  recover- 
ing of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised;  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."1 
The  whole  attitude  and  mind  of  Christ  encourage  hope. 
None  so  well  as  He  understood  the  sinfulness  of  sin; 
none  so  deeply  proved  the  mysteries  of  evil  that  poison 
society  and  draw  men  to  perdition ;  none  so  deeply  drank 

1C/.  Luke  4:16,  22. 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  243 

of  the  cup  of  suffering.  In  the  solitariness  of  sacrificial 
love  He  trod  the  wine-press  alone ;  and,  bowed  to  the 
earth  in  the  travail  of  His  soul,  endured  the  agony  of 
spiritual  conflict,  in  which  His  sweat  was,  as  it  were, 
great  drops  of  blood  falling  down  to  the  ground.  He 
shunned  not  the  cross,  from  which  He  might  have  escaped; 
but,  with  words  of  forgiveness  and  blessing  on  His  lips, 
tasted  death  for  every  man,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that 
He  might  reconcile  the  world  unto  Himself.  Then, 
breaking  the  bonds  of  the  grave,  and  casting  away  its  cords 
from  Him,  ascending  up  on  high,  leading  captivity  cap- 
tive, and  giving  gifts  unto  men,  He  became  the  Author 
of  eternal  salvation  unto  all  them  that  obey  Him.1  His 
mission  is  to  make  all  things  new.2  He,  the  risen  and 
glorified  Christ,  is  the  Author  of  a  living  hope  in  every 
soul  that  truly  receives  Him.3  If  any  man  be  in  Christ, 
he  is  a  new  creature ;  old  things  are  passed  away ;  all 
things  are  become  new.4  Christ  is  the  Friend  of  man. 
By  the  mystery  of  His  Holy  Incarnation  He  has  identi- 
fied Himself  with  human  life ;  and  by  the  perpetual  influ- 
ence of  His  Spirit  He  has  introduced  into  the  world  an 
expectation  of  good,  an  appreciation  of  liberty,  a  zeal  for 
righteousness,  a  grace  for  co-operative  helpfulness,  an 
immortal  hope,  by  which,  for  all  who  are  influenced  there- 
by, the  world  becomes  a  new  world,  and  all  the  conditions 
of  life  are  transformed. 

As  I  close  this  lecture,  in  which  I  have  ventured  to 
give  utterance  to  some  of  the  most  treasured  convictions 
of  my  mind,  as  well  as  to  some  of  the  deepest  longings  of 
my  heart,  may  I  carry  the  argument  to  one  further  and 
final  stage?      I  have  assumed  that  a  desire  conceivably 

i  Cf.  Heb.  5 : 7-9.  2  cf.  Rev.  21 : 5. 

3  Cf.  1  Pet.  1:5-5.  *  Cf.  2  Cor.  5 :  17. 


244  Barrows  Lectures 

might  exist  among  liberal-minded  men  of  different  faiths, 
who  have  a  common  wish  for  the  world's  betterment,  to 
advance  to  a  common  basis  of  belief,  which  should  be  to 
them  of  the  nature  of  an  Absolute  Religion.  Upon  this 
assumption  I  have  examined,  not  the  highly  localised  and 
specialised  forms  of  denominational  Christianity,  but  the 
uncorrupted  essence  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  to  ascertain 
whether,  judged  by  the  tests  of  suitability  of  origin, 
breadth  of  philosophical  method,  strength  of  moral 
initiative,  and  the  spirit  of  hopefulness,  it  is  prepared  to 
furnish  such  a  basis  of  belief  and  action  for  men  of  diverse 
training  and  tradition,  who  entertain  in  common  a  con- 
viction that  the  world  is  capable  of  being  made  better, 
and  that  sin  is  the  plague  that  blasts  social  and  personal 
life. 

If,  now,  it  may  be  further  assumed  that  the  religion 
of  Christ  in  its  uncorrupted  essence  contains  these 
several  notes  of  universality,  and  might  therefore  be  a 
basis  of  common  belief  and  action  such  as  that  of  which 
we  are  in  search,  there  remains  only  to  be  considered  the 
relation  of  the  East  to  this  absolute  religion.  Practical 
questions  of  the  highest  interest  are  raised  when  the 
imagination  is  permitted  to  conceive  a  general  acceptance 
of  the  religion  of  Christ  by  the  most  cultured  and  cos- 
mopolitan spirits  of  India  and  of  the  Far  East.  How 
could  such  a  movement  be  effected  if  there  existed 
in  many  minds  a  desire  for  it?  It  is  foreign  to  the 
genius  of  Christianity  to  impose  itself  by  authority 
upon  any  people  or  upon  any  man.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  teaching  or  example  of  Christ  to  justify  the  gov- 
ernment of  a  state  in  restricting  or  coercing  the  beliefs 
of  its  subjects.  Religion  is  an  affair  between  the  soul 
and  God,  and  the  religious  liberty  of  the  individual  is 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  245 

a  right  upon  which  the  State  never  can  infringe  with- 
out injustice,  and  for  the  protection  of  which  men  may 
well  resist  and  defy  the  authority  of  the  State.  Further- 
more, the  wholesale  imposition  of  Christianity  upon  a 
people,  by  Act  of  Government,  even  if  it  were  to  be 
tolerated,  would  be  a  travesty  of  the  truth.  The  kingdom 
of  God  cometh  not  with  observation.1  "The  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  said  Christ,  "is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard  seed 
which  a  man  took  and  sowed  in  his  field;  which  indeed  is 
the  least  of  all  seeds,  but  when  it  is  grown  it  is  the  greatest 
among  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of 
the  air  come  and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof."2  Nor 
could  such  a  movement  as  this  be  brought  about  by  any 
course  of  action  which  would  involve  the  surrender  or 
compromise  of  that  national  spirit  which,  I  fondly  hope, 
is  growing  in  India.  As  a  constant  reader  of  Indian  news- 
papers I  note  with  joy  the  frequent  recognition  of  that 
spirit  as  one  of  the  cherished  ideals  of  the  future.  It  is  a 
spirit  in  no  sense  inimical  to  the  Sovereign  Ruler  of 
India,  but  rather  a  normal  development  of  the  best  life  of 
this  vast  realm.  So  was  it  said  the  other  day,  with  great 
thoughtf ulness :  "There  are  signs  that  a  vague  national 
idea  is  floating  in  the  air.  What  form  it  will  take  in  the 
complex  organisation  of  Indian  polity  it  is  not  possible 
to  foretell.  It  is  a  task  for  some  of  our  best  men  to  note 
carefully,  and  make  use  of  the  sentiment  and  the  oppor- 
tunity. For  herein  is  the  best  impetus  that  can  be  given 
to  national  progress;  more  than  governments  or  economic 
revolutions  can  effect. "a  Such  sentiments  honour  those 
who  utter  them.  No  acceptance  of  Christianity  that 
insulted  or  humiliated  such  a  national  ideal  could  be 

1  Luke  17 :  20.  2  Matt.  13 :  31,  32. 

3  Editorial  from  The  Hindu,  quoted  in  Indu-Prakash,  August  4, 1902. 


246  Barrows  Lectures 

entertained  for  a  moment.  How,  then,  could  this  move- 
ment, now  theoretically  present  to  our  minds,  be  effected, 
if  there  existed  a  desire  for  it  ?  It  could  come  about  only 
as,  one  by  one,  the  open-minded,  the  pure  in  heart,  the 
merciful,  the  meek,  the  lovers  of  humanity,  the  believers 
in  the  betterment  of  the  world,  should  see  eye  to  eye,  and 
draw  together,  and  learn  to  trust  one  another  as  brethren 
in  Christ  Jesus;  and  for  His  sake,  and  for  humanity's 
sake,  to  make  the  sacrifices  and  face  the  opposition  that 
might  arise  by  reason  of  their  confession  of  the  faith  of 
Christ.  I  do  not  underestimate  the  sacrifices  that  would 
be  called  for  in  the  present  structure  of  Indian  society. 
I  do  not  forget  the  surrender  of  social  distinction  and  the 
severance  of  social  ties  that  must  for  a  time  be  endured 
in  the  present  state  of  things,  were  any  large  number  of 
educated  men  in  India  to  acknowledge  the  religion  of 
Christ  as  the  absolute  religion.  But  such  is  my  assurance 
of  the  power  of  Christ  to  overcome  obstacles,  and  of  His 
religion  to  modify  social  institutions,  that  it  is  my  con- 
viction that  if,  by  common  consent,  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  educated  leaders  would  make  the  sacrifice  in  the 
spirit  of  meekness,  their  act,  prompted  by  the  noblest 
motives  and  sustained  by  the  most  unselfish  devotion, 
would  do  more  than  any  other  thing  in  the  world  to 
crystallise  into  reality  that  vaguely  noble  national  ideal 
which,  as  one  of  your  writers  tells  us,  "is  in  the  air."  I 
would  not  have  these  men  cast  discredit  on  the  faiths  of 
their  forefathers,  nor  speak  against  traditions  precious  to 
their  own  flesh  and  blood.  I  would  have  them  face  the 
future  and  claim  their  own  heritage  and  right  in  the 
religion  most  in  line  with  the  constructive  forces  that 
shall  shape  the  future.  When  I  permit  myself  to  con- 
template the  blessing  that  would  come  to  the  Western 


Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion  247 

world  if  the  great,  religious  East  were  to  become  the 
teacher  and  interpreter  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ, 
my  heart  burns  within  me.  Again  and  again  in  the 
course  of  these  lectures  I  have  reiterated  my  conviction 
that  the  Christianity  of  the  West  has  been,  in  many 
ways,  an  inadequate  and  imperfect  illustration  of  the 
uncorrupted  essence  of  the  faith  of  Christ.  It  is  not  to 
us  that  the  East  should  look  for  an  example  for  what  the 
power  of  Christ  can  effect  in  the  redeeming  and  sancti- 
fying of  nations.  All  that  the  West  has  of  moral 
strength  and  social  purity  and  spiritual  power  it  owes  to 
Jesus  Christ.  But  evil  is  mingled  with  its  good  and 
darkness  with  its  light.  Not  to  us,  but  to  Him,  shall  the 
far-seeing  eyes  of  the  East  look  when  the  educated  circles 
of  the  Orient  are  prepared  seriously  to  consider  the  rela- 
tion of  Christianity  to  the  future  of  the  world.  Not  from 
us,  but  from  Him  and  from  His  Holy  Scriptures  of  truth, 
shall  the  deep  spiritual  insight  of  the  East  receive  the 
revelation  that  shall  be  incorporated  with  its  own  tradi- 
tions and  assimilated  into  its  own  institutions.  In  the 
day  when  the  vigour  of  the  West  and  the  insight  of  the 
East  shall  be  joined  by  a  true  union  of  hearts  for  the 
interpretation  and  practice  of  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  shall  the  Unspeakable  Gift  of 
God  be  understood,  appreciated,  and  expressed  on  earth. 


SUPPLEMENTAKY  NOTE  ON  JAPAN 

Among  the  great  non-Christian  nations  Japan  is  the 
first  to  come  in  contact  with  Western  powers  without  war  ; 
the  first  to  adopt  a  constitution  with  representative  insti- 
tutions, and  one  that  guarantees  religious  liberty ;  the 
first  to  abolish  trial  by  torture,  to  overthrow  caste  dis- 
tinctions, and  to  make  all  equal  before  the  law ;  the  first 
and  only  one  to  gain  freedom  from  exterritoriality,  which 
this  patriotic  and  sensitive  people  justly  hated,  and  yet 
which  Western  powers  as  justly  imposed  until  1900.  She 
is  also  the  first  non-Christian  nation  to  cover  her  terri- 
tory with  schools  and  make  education  universal. 

A  nation  of  forty-five  million  people  within  the  brief 
space  of  one  generation  has  radically  changed  its  govern- 
ment, laws,  social  structure,  and  has  greatly  modified  and 
elevated  its  ideals  of  family  life,  its  ethical  standards,  and 
its  religious  thought.  There  is  nothing  in  all  history 
that  compares  with  this  swift  upward  transformation. 

So  great  a  change  is  possible  only  when  there  is  a 
highly  developed  moral  and  religious  basis  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people.  The  history  of  Japan  has  some  of  the 
noblest  characters  that  can  be  found  anywhere  outside  of 
the  influence  of  Christian  teachings.  It  contains  the 
story  that  is  nearest  the  story  of  the  Cross  of  Christ — 
that  of  Sakura  Sogoro,  who  gave  himself  to  be  crucified 
that  he  might  save  the  people  of  his  province  from  cruel 
oppression  and  ruin.  The  records  of  different  parts  of 
the  empire  contain  numerous  examples  of  noblest  self- 
sacrifice  for  others. 

Of  the  four  ethical  characteristics  of  the  people,  as 

248 


Supplementary  Note  on  Japan  249 

given  by  the  Reverend  T.  Harada,  the  first  is  the  Sense 
of  Ought.  Everything  must  be  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of 
duty.  As  one  of  their  proverbs  says:  "The  most  sacred 
relations  must  give  way  before  great  duties."  Knowing 
that  the  path  of  duty  would  lead  to  certain  death,  there 
are  many  instances  scattered  through  their  history  of 
women  and  youths  as  well  as  of  men  who  unhesitatingly 
chose  to  surrender  life.  "Full  well  I  knew  this  course 
must  end  in  death,"  is  a  line  of  one  of  their  well-known 
poems. 

Self-sacrifice  is  the  highest  point  in  Christian  ethics. 
It  is  also  the  height  of  moral  living  in  Japanese  history. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  moral  degradation  of  the 
people  in  certain  lines,  through  it  all  shines  the  clear 
light  of  this  noble  principle  of  self-sacrifice  that  saves  a 
nation  from  political  and  social  corruption.  This  prin- 
ciple has  won  so  deep  a  place  in  the  moral  life  of  Japan 
that  the  people  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  the 
self-sacrifice  of  Christ.  Before  an  audience  of  a  thousand 
teachers,  a  professor  in  the  Imperial  University  who  had 
written  and  spoken  strong  words  against  Christianity 
recently  said:  "Jesus  was  crucified  between  two  thieves. 
Who  knows  the  names  of  the  thieves?  No  one  in  the 
whole  wide  world.  But  there  is  no  one  under  heaven 
who  does  not  know  the  name  of  Jesus.  Why  ?  Because 
of  his  noble  morality.     He  is  immortal." 

There  is  no  room  here  to  follow  out  other  lines  of 
Japanese  ethics.  This  is  enough  to  show  that  the  swift 
and  successful  adoption,  on  the  part  of  a  great  non- 
Christian  nation,  of  new  government,  new  laws,  new  social 
ideals  based  on  the  worth  and  dignity  of  the  individual, 
was  possible  because  of  their  already  highly  developed 
moral  nature. 


250  Barrows  Lectures 

Their  religious  life  also  is  no  small  factor  in  their 
moral  living.  If  condensed  into  one  sentence,  this  reli- 
gious life  rests  on  faith  in  the  gods,  who  always  have  been 
represented  by  the  Imperial  Line ;  which  (Shinto)  faith 
was  modified,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the  Buddhist  religion 
and  philosophy,  and,  on  the  other,  by  Confucian  ethics. 

Ancestor-worship,  which  we  of  the  West  have  not  only 
outgrown  but  regard  as  a  sign  of  deep  heathenism,  has 
its  noble  side  and  has  been  an  immense  blessing  to  the 
whole  East.  In  the  pantheistic  stage,  through  which  in 
the  divine  economy  mankind  must  pass,  in  all  probability 
there  could  never  have  been  any  permanent  family  except 
by  the  moral  aid  of  ancestor-worship. 

Buddhism,  as  it  stands  in  modern  Japan,  has  two 
widely  different  aspects.  With  scholars  it  tends  to  phi- 
losophy ;  with  the  masses,  to  idolatrous  superstition. 
But,  nevertheless,  every  candid  student  must  see  that  it 
has  been  of  untold  benefit  in  strengthening  the  religious 
nature,  and  also  in  inculcating  peace  and  pity,  as  well  as 
in  teaching  the  civilising  influences  of  architecture, 
sculpture,  painting.  It  has  greatly  encouraged  literature 
and  love  of  the  beautiful. 

Confucius's  priceless  contribution  to  Japanese  civilisa- 
tion is  the  Five  Relations.  This  great  moral  prophet 
taught  these  relations  in  this  order :  parents  and  children  ; 
lord  and  retainer ;  husband  and  wife  ;  brothers  and  sisters  ; 
and  friends.  China  has  always  emphasised  the  first,  and 
her  over-emphasis  of  this  one  relation,  with  its  ancestor- 
worship,  is  what  holds  her  back  from  the  acceptance  of 
modern  civilisation.  Japan  reversed  the  order  of  the 
first  two  relations  and  placed  high  in  her  ethics  the  rela- 
tion of  lord  and  retainer,  with  the  worship  of  the  Impe- 
rial House  and  loyalty  that  knows  no  fear  of  death.     This 


Supplementary  Note  on  Japan  251 

made  her  a  martial  people,  fond  of  daring  adventures, 
and  fitted  her  for  intercourse  with  Western  nations  on 
terms  of  mutual  respect  and  benefit. 

This  mingling  of  various  religious  and  moral  ideas 
brought  forth  some  noble  manifestations  of  spiritual 
living.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  Japan  is  a  nation  with- 
out a  religion.  It  is  not  true  now  and  never  has  been.  Old 
Japan  has  her  prophets  who  can  be  accounted  for  in  no 
other  way  so  well  as  by  ascribing  to  them  the  leading  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  The  Keverend  T.  Miyagawa,  in 
a  recent  address  to  a  body  of  missionaries,  called  atten- 
tion to  some  examples  of  this,  one  of  which  is  as  follows : 
Nakal  Tojio  speaks  thus  of  God:  "There  is  a  great  Lord 
over  all.  This  Lord  is  the  great  and  only  Spirit.  He  is 
the  Lord  and  Father  of  heaven  and  earth  and  all  things. 
From  the  mighty  universe  to  the  tiny  mote,  from  the 
eternity  to  the  moment,  there  is  nothing  outside  of  his 
glorious  regard.  His  mystery  fills  all  space — God  of 
God,  Spirit  of  Spirit."  One  more  is  worthy  of  the  atten- 
tion of  the  readers  of  this  book :  Muro  Kyuso  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  ago  said:  "Think  not  that  God  is 
distant,  but  seek  him  in  the  heart,  for  the  heart  is  the 
house  of  God." 

Now,  ancestor-worship  is  never  able  to  withstand 
international  intercourse.  It  is  of  necessity  a  narrow 
religion  until  it  breaks  forth  into  the  universal — the 
worship  of  the  God  and  Father  of  us  all.  Japanese 
Buddhism,  itself  a  great  departure  from  original  Bud- 
dhism, is  being  again  greatly  modified  by  modern  science 
and  Christian  ethics.  And  the  Confucian  relations  are 
being  widely  interpreted  in  terms  of  Christian  thought. 

In  other  words,  the  moral  and  religious  history  of 
Japan  reveals  a  divine  preparation  for  the  larger  and  final 


252  Barrows  Lectures 

message  of  God  in  his  Son.  In  the  fullness  of  time  God 
calls  upon  his  children  to  give  this  people  through  old 
and  new  channels  the  most  complete  expression  of  Chris- 
tian truth.  At  the  same  time  the  spirit  in  which  we  do 
this  is  important.  We  must  believe  that  such  a  people, 
with  such  a  moral  and  religious  history,  will  not  only 
receive  Christian  truth,  but  will  also  contribute  something 
to  the  fuller  interpretation  of  the  exhaustless  Gospel  of 
Christ.  We  apart  from  them  cannot  be  made  perfect  in 
the  knowledge  of  God. 

Christian  truth  naturally  will  first  appeal  to  the 
Japanese  on  ethical  lines.  In  three  important  respects 
Japan  has  already  welcomed  the  teachings  of  Christ, 
confessedly  recognising  their  superiority  and  universality. 
Chastity  for  man  as  well  as  for  woman;  the  humanitarian 
spirit  as  exemplified  in  what  is  perhaps  the  largest  Red 
Cross  Society  in  the  world;  and  the  worth  and  dignity 
of  the  individual — these  are  the  distinctive  contributions 
of  Christianity  to  the  ethical  life  of  New  Japan. 

What  are  called  the  supernatural  elements  in  Chris- 
tianity become  at  once  stumbling-blocks  to  intelligent 
Japanese.  From  a  people  still  held  in  the  pantheistic 
philosophy  of  the  past,  the  doctrines  of  a  personal  God, 
a  Divine  and  Risen  Saviour,  and  personal  immortality 
meet  with  objections,  especially  when  they  suspect  that 
the  scholars  of  the  West  are  outgrowing  these  beliefs. 
Personality  in  God  seems  to  reduce  him  to  very  small 
terms  in  comparison  with  limitless  "Heaven,"'  or  the 
vague  and  unknowable  "Soul  of  the  Universe."  The 
Resurrection  is  a  far  greater  stumbling-block  than  the 
Cross.  Their  idea  of  immortality  is  that  of  a  people,  of 
society,  of  the  family,  and  of  a  name,  rather  than  that  of 
the  individual. 


Supplementary  Note  on  Japan  253 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  most  fitting  that 
representative  Christian  scholars  should  be  sent  direct 
from  Christian  institutions  of  learning  to  give,  to  the 
educated  classes  of  the  East,  the  reasons  for  the  faith 
within  them.  It  has  always  been  normal  for  the  Church 
to  send  forth  her  missionaries  with  the  Gospel  of  the 
Crucified  and  Risen  Christ.  Just  because  this  is  the 
definite  work  of  Mission  Boards,  whose  one  purpose  is 
to  make  converts  and  organise  believers  into  churches, 
the  missionary,  however  wide  his  learning,  labors  under 
the  suspicion,  more  or  less  marked,  of  being  a  hireling 
and  a  propagandist.  But  for  a  great  university  to  send 
out  Christian  scholars,  sympathetic  with  the  religious 
thought  of  the  world,  yet  reverently  believing  in  the 
Divine  Son  of  God,  is  not  only  a  most  timely  aid,  but  is 
a  most  welcome  method  of  approaching  the  scholarly  and 
influential  classes.  Learning  is  binding  the  world  into 
one,  and  it  is  meet  that  consecrated  learning  should  have 
consecrated  messengers  to  bear  direct  from  the  university 
this  greatest  of  all  truths  to  the  thoughtful  classes  of  the 
East. 

Mr.  J.  R.  Mott,  sent  by  Christian  students  to  the 
students  of  the  East,  had  wide  and  abiding  successes  that 
would  have  been  impossible  had  he  gone  under  a  Mission 
Board.  The  work  of  young  men  for  young  men  has  won 
so  high  a  place  in  Japan  that  at  the  tenth  anniversary  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  Tokyo,  Baron 
Maejima,  an  ex-cabinet  officer,  said:  "I  firmly  believe  we 
must  have  religion  as  the  basis  of  our  national  and 
personal  welfare.  No  matter  how  large  an  army  or  navy 
we  may  have,  unless  we  have  righteousness  at  the  founda- 
tion of  our  national  existence  we  shall  fall  short  of  highest 
success.     I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  we  must  rely  upon 


254  Barrows  Lectures 

religion  for  our  highest  welfare.  And  when  I  look  about 
me  to  see  what  religion  we  may  best  rely  upon,  I  am 
convinced  that  the  religion  of  Christ  is  the  one  most  full 
of  strength  and  promise  for  the  nation." 

The  point  to  bear  in  mind  is  that  a  most  effective 
Christian  work  is  possible  outside  of  the  organised  work 
of  missions  and  their  churches,  by  men  sent  directly  by 
students  and  institutions  of  learning. 

President  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  a  university  scholar 
sent  by  a  university  to  the  scholarly  classes  of  the  East, 
met  with  multitudes  of  people  who  are  indifferent  to  the 
work  of  missionaries.  He  would  not  have  been  welcomed 
to  halls  of  learning  in  Japan,  and  most  certainly  he 
would  not  have  been  invited  to  lecture  in  the  Imperial 
University  at  Tokyo,  had  he  been  a  missionary  of  the 
Church.  Such  work  as  his  is  exceptionally  powerful,  not 
only  in  overthrowing  prejudice,  but  in  creating  a  sym- 
pathetic state  of  mind  towards  the  vital  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  also  in  producing  positive  conviction  with 
many  individuals. 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  work  of  missions 
is  weak  and  that  organised  Christianity  is  of  little 
value.  On  the  contrary,  the  work  of  these  exceptional 
messengers  of  Christ  would  be  impossible  but  for  what 
the  Church  through  her  various  missions  has  already 
splendidly  accomplished.  The  foundations  are  broadly 
laid,  and  the  effects  of  Christian  teaching  are  left  for 
good  far  outside  of  the  growing  churches.  There  never 
was  a  great  nation  permeated  with  Christian  truth  in 
ethical  lines  so  rapidly  as  Japan  has  been.  And  there 
never  was  a  time  when  Christian  scholarship  had  such  a 
grand  opportunity  of  impressing  the  leading  minds  of  a 
nation  as  it  has  now  in  Japan. 


Supplementary  Note  on  Japan  255 

What  the  university  has  begun  to  do  should  be  pro- 
phetic of  another  needed  movement.  Commerce,  too,  is 
binding  the  world  into  one.  And  we  wait  the  day  when 
successful  men  of  business,  so  many  of  whom  are  splendid 
givers,  and  so  many  of  whose  lives  are  a  protest  against 
materialism,  will  commission  one  and  another  of  their 
men  of  faith  to  visit  these  Eastern  men  of  business,  not 
only  in  order  to  witness  to  the  necessity  of  commercial 
morality,  but  also  to  proclaim  the  necessity  of  the  religious 
spirit  which  alone  makes  commerce  an  unqualified  bless- 
ing to  the  race. 

John  H.  De  Forest. 

Sendai,  Japan,  1903. 


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